If you missed ‘stir up Sunday’ and want to make a delicious Christmas cake, follow my recipe for a perfect cake every time and the best part is that you can make this cake up to 1 week before Christmas and it will still taste amazing. I hope you love it as much as I do and make sure to get all the family to make a wish as you stir the fruit in!

Delicious Easy Christmas Cake Recipe

I'm sharing with you my delicious easy Christmas Cake receipe that I have perfected over the years. Packed full of fruit and so tasty, best of all - it's so easy to make! Part of the secret is to soak the fruit at least 24 hours in advance so make sure you allow enough time for this for ultimate deliciousness and the added bonus is that your house will smell amazing from all the special spices and zests steeping away. It's a tradition in our house to make a wish as you are stirring all the fruits in, wonderful for everyone and a great way for children to join in the fun!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 2 hrs 45 mins

Servings 12 slices (approximately)

Equipment

7" / 18 cm Round Cake Tin
Large Bowl for Soaking Fruit
Large Bowl for Mixture

Ingredients

250 g Currants
150 g Sultanas
150 g Raisins
200 g Glace Cherries, chopped in half
60 g Mixed Peel
1 Lemon Zest
1 Orange Zest
1 tsp Ground Ginger
60 g Ground Almonds
220 g Plain Flour
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp Mixed Spice
1½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
85 ml Spiced Rum or Brandy or Cherry Brandy
170 g Unsalted Butter at room temperature
170 g Light Soft Brown Sugar
170 g Free Range Eggs (approximately 3 large ones) Weigh the eggs out of their shells, if there isn't enough add a touch of mik, or if too much break down the eggs with a fork and pour some away.
1 tbsp Molasses or black treacle
Handful of whole almonds to add to the top to decorate (optional)

Instructions

27-42 hours before you are planning to bake the cake, weigh the currants, sultanas, raisins, mixed peel and rinse in warm water, drain with a large sieve. Rinse the cherries and cut in half. Add all the rinsed fruit to a large bowl and add the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, mixed spice and ground nutmeg to the fruit. Mix with the alcohol and zests of lemon and orange. Stir well and make sure everything is incorporated. Cover tightly and leave to absorb the alcohol, stirring from time to time.
Baking Day
Preheat the oven to 170°C
Prepare your tin:
Grease your tin with butter and line with baking paper, making sure to go up the sides of the tin. Make a cardboard sleeve to go around the outside of the tin from a piece of corrugated cardboard cut to size so that it sits above the tin by 3cm, wrap this around the tin and tie with string. Make a round 'hat' for the tin from cardboard using the base of the tin as a guide and cut the cardboard 4cm (approx) away from this line (this will stop the cake from burning on top).
Weigh the sugar and butter. Cream together either using a wooden spoon or the paddle attachment on your mixer until it becomes pale yellow in colour.
Weigh the eggs and beat gently with a fork to combine the yolk and white together. Add a little at a time to the creamed sugar and butter (around 5 additions), allowing the mixture to form a batter, scraping down the bowl after each addition of egg. If the batter starts to curdle, place the mixing bowl over some hot water in a separate bowl and mix until the batter comes together again.
Weigh the flour and ground almonds together and mix to incorporate, slowly fold the flour into the batter in stages making a figure 8 shape after each addition until combined.
Add the soaked fruit mixture in stages using a slotted spoon by hand (not using a mixer) and save the remaining alcholic mixture for after the cake has cooked. Make sure all the fruit is evenly distributed. Make your wishes!
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread evenly, if you have unfruited batter left at the bottom of the bowl don't add this to the tin to make sure all the cake has fruit in it.
If you are adding the whole almonds, place them carefully in a decorative way to the top of the cake.
Place the prepared tin on a baking tray and add the cardboard top. Reduce the heat of the oven to 150°C and place the baking tray with the tin in the centre of the oven.
Bake for 2 hours, then remove the cardboard top for the last 45 minutes. Test to see if the cake is cooked by sticking a thin skewer into the cake to see if it comes out cleanly.
Once the cake is cooked, take out of the oven and leave in the tin, pour or spray over the cake the remaining alcohol mixture (if you didn't have very much) add a little extra. Cover with a thick tea towel leave for at least three hours (or overnight) to allow the extra alcohol to infuse.
Carefully remove the tin and decorate as you wish. Enjoy!

Notes

This is a wonderful and rich fruited Christmas cake, either to serve by itself or to decorate with marzipan and fondant icing.

I have baked this recipe for years and it's my tried and tested version. I hope you enjoy making this cake. Why not make some for your family and friends as special presents, they will love it!

Recipe copyright of Beautiful Heirloom Home - www.beautifulheirloomhome.co.uk