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Family Christmas Cake

A cake recipe developed and tweaked and made many times by my grandmother, with a few little updates of my own.

Course Dessert, Snack, Treat
Cuisine British
Keyword cake, Christmas
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 hours
Fruit soaking Time 1 day
Servings 12

Ingredients

Dried Fruits & Soaking Liquor

  • 500 g Mixed dried fruit made with added cranberries and apricots if possible
  • 200 g Raisins
  • 120 g Dates chopped
  • 100 g Glacé cherries chopped
  • 80 g Chopped mixed peel
  • 100 ml Spiced rum, or brandy

Other Ingredients

  • 225 g Plain flour
  • 1 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 tsp Mixed spice
  • 60 g Ground almonds
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • ½ tsp Nutmeg
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 100 g Flaked almonds
  • 225 g Soft brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp Black Treacle or molasses
  • 4 Large eggs
  • 225 g Butter softened
  • 1 Orange finely grated zest and juice
  • 1 Lemon finely grated zest only
  • 1 tsp Vanilla paste

Instructions

  1. Weigh and add all of the dry fruits to the soaking liquor in a large bowl, and cover with clingfilm for 2 hours, or preferably overnight.

  2. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 140℃

  3. Line baking tin with a double thickness of baking parchment.

  4. Sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt into a large bowl or stand mixer.

  5. Add sugar, ground almonds, treacle, butter and eggs, and mix to combine.

  6. Add the soaked fruits, flaked almonds, orange juice and fruit zests, and mix again.

  7. Transfer cake batter into baking tin and level top with a spatula.

  8. Cover with a double layer of parchment paper with a 2cm hole cut into the top, resting on parchment collar (not touching the cake or the tin). Wrap outside of cake tin in a double thickness or brown paper or newspaper, tied with string.

  9. Bake for 4 hours.