Traditional English Christmas Cake Recipe
Recipe for Old Fashioned Christmas Fruit Cake to Make in Advance
Sep 2, 2009
In England, the Christmas cake began as a Twelfth Night cake, Twelfth Night being on 5th January and marking the end of the Christmas season.
Christmas Cake Developed from Twelfth Night Cake
Twelfth Night was a great celebration and often the local priest would visit and bless the houses, and would be invited to take a piece of this cake. After the Reformation this religious tradition died out, but enterprising bakers, no doubt seeing a gap in the market and missing their lost revenue , revived the cake, decorating it with Christmas scenes. So, Twelfth Night cake became Christmas cake!
Traditional Christmas cakes were made in advance, usually no later than November. The cake would be kept upside down in an airtight tin. Every week a small amount of brandy, sherry or whisky would be 'fed' into holes in the cake, until Christmas.
Traditional Christmas Cake Recipe
This recipe is for a cake which is wonderful if baked in September or October, as it improves with keeping.
Note: Requires to be left overnight at stage 3.
Ingredients :
- 125 g/4 oz raisins
- 125 g/4 oz glace cherries
- 125 g/4 oz mixed peel
- 450 g/1 lb currants
- 125 g/4 oz sultanas
- 2 tablespoons brandy, sherry or rum
- 4 eggs
- 225 g/8 oz butter
- 225 g/8 oz soft brown sugar
- 225 g/8 oz plain white flour
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 125 g/4 oz ground almonds
Method:
- Chop raisins, cherries and mixed peel.
- Put these in a bowl with currants and sultanas.
- Pour over the brandy, sherry or rum and leave overnight.
- Line a 20 cm/8 inch diameter round cake tin or an 18 cm/7 inch square tin with greased, grease-proof paper.
- Prepare a cool oven, Gas 2, 300°F, 150°C.
- Beat the eggs.
- Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.
- Sift flour and mixed spice in a separate bowl.
- Add soaked fruit and ground almonds.
- Mix well together.
- Add spoonfuls of egg then flour mixture to bowl of creamed ingredients.
- Mix well at each addition until all is thoroughly mixed.
- Put mixture into prepared tin.
- To protect the cake from browning on the outside before the middle is cooked, wrap a double thickness of brown paper or newspaper round outside of the tin. It should stand up a good 5 cm/2 inches above the tin. Tie it on with string.
- Bake the cake for 3 to 4 hours, until it is firm and the fruit stops ‘singing’ or ‘hissing’.
- Remove cake from the tin and place on a cooling wire.
- When cold, store in an air-tight tin and let it mature as long as possible (at least 3 months). It will keep for a year.
The whole cake can then be covered with Almond Paste and Royal Icing, if desired, although a plain traditional Christmas cake is sometimes preferred.
See Also:
- How to Make Traditional Almond Paste - instructions for making almond paste in the traditional way to cover your home-made or shop-bought Christmas cake.
- How to Make Royal Icing for Christmas Cake - full recipe details for making your own Royal Icing to cover a home-made or shop-bought Christmas cake.
- Make at Home Mulled Wine & Wassail - two traditional alcoholic Christmas drinks to bring warmth to winter nights.
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