31: Christmas (fruit) cakes...........

Fruit Cake recipe

Here you go, ladies - this is the Christmas cake recipe I make. When I make one. There are other really gorgeous cake recipes where you buy the fruit separately and I remember my mother laying trays of fruit out in the sun to dry, but I love this one.

1 and a half pounds of mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants etc)
I lb dates (chopped and stoned)
half lb cherries
half lb walnuts
half lb butter (I use marge)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 heaped cups flour -plain
4 eggs
1 teasp bicarb (baking soda)
2 teasp mixed spice
half teasp ground ginger
quarter teasp cinnamon
quarter teasp nutmeg
quarter teasp cloves (ground)

Cook all the fruit except the cherries and nuts with butter and sugar and 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. In very large pot (I mix the whole cake in this pot)
Allow to cool.
Add cherries and nuts.
Dissolve bicarb in one cup water.
Sift all dry ingredients.
Add eggs to mix, then bicarb, then dry ingredients.
Mix well and pour into greased lined pan.
I roll up newspaper and tie it around the outside of the cake tin as well.
Bake at 180C (350F) for half an hour, then drop the temp to 160C (320F) for about 2 and a half hours.

Once the cake is out of the oven, and still warm, poke holes in the top of it with a skewer, and drizzle/pour brandy over it to soak in. You can do this every now and then from now till Christmas.

And nearer Christmas, out comes the marzipan and fondant and flood icing and creative stuff, and you decorate the whole thins. I used to make royal icing and using a wet palette knife, slap it on around the sides, so it made peaks, like snow.

Here is some more info

Christmas cake

And here is another recipe I use. Actually, I combine the two sometimes.

Double this recipe at Christmas.

1lb mixed fruit
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
quarter lb marge
1 teaspoon bicarb (baking soda)
1 teasp mixed spice
dash cinnamon

Mix all the above in a large pot and boil for 10 mins

Add 2 cups flour - plain
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 beaten eggs
cherries
2 pieces of chopped glace pineapple
2 pieces of chopped glace fig
chopped walnuts.

Greased, lined pan + newspaper and string around.
Bake at 180 (350F) for quarter of an hour and then 160C (320F) for 1 and a quarter hours.

Okay. I hope that makes sense. Try it - and enjoy!