Recipe of the week - Boozy Christmas cake

I’ve been meaning to put up on the blog my various recipes, however, I just never seemed to got round to doing it.

So I thought I’d give them to you as a ‘recipe of the week’ slot on the blog. All the recipes featured are mine, and haven’t simply been lifted from a cookery book.

Seeing as it’s getting close to the time when you should start to be making your Christmas cake, here’s my recipe for a really moist, boozy fruit cake.

All the weights are in ‘old money’. If you want them in Metric, you’ll have to convert it yourself….

7inch/ 18cm round tin or 6inch/ 16cm square tin

• 7oz Currants
• 4oz Sultanas
• 2oz Raisins
• 2oz Glace Cherries – chopped
• 2oz Mixed Peel
• 2oz Mixed Chopped Nuts
• 2 tablespoon Brandy/ Rum or any spirit
• 5oz Plain Flour – sieved
• 1 teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 1oz Ground Almonds
• 4oz Soft Brown Sugar
• 4oz Butter (softened)
• 1 tablespoon Black Treacle
• 3 Eggs

9inch/ 22cm round tin or 8inch/ 20cm square tin

• 13oz Currants
• 7oz Sultanas
• 3 ½oz Raisins
• 3 ½oz Glace Cherries – chopped
• 3 ½oz Mixed Peel
• 3 ½oz Mixed Chopped Nuts
• 3 tablespoon Brandy/ Rum or any spirit
• 9oz Plain Flour – sieved
• 1 ¾ teaspoon Mixed Spice
• 2oz Ground Almonds
• 8oz Soft Brown Sugar
• 8oz Butter (softened)
• 1 ½ tablespoon Black Treacle
• 5 Eggs

Put all fruit in a bowl, coat with the alcohol and leave overnight.

Preheat oven to 140º c/ Gas Mk 1. Fan oven 130º c.

Line the tin with two sheets of baking parchment. You could use greaseproof paper, however you must grease it with butter.

Add all the ingredients except for the fruit into a bowl. Mix well. Add half of the fruit to the bowl, mix, then add the rest of the fruit and mix again.

Scrape the mixture into the tin, making a slight well in the centre of the cake - this will stop the centre from rising. Take hold of the tin and tap it a couple of times onto a hard surface. This gets rid of any air bubbles.

Cover the top and sides of the tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper or brown paper. Bake in the centre of the oven for two ½ hours for cake tin sizes 6 and 7 inch and three hours for cake tin sizes 8 and 9 inch.

To check whether the cake is done place a skewer (a knitting needle or piece of spaghetti are ideal) in the centre of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked. If it’s not, return to the oven for another 30 minutes and check again.

Leave to cool completely in the tin. When cool pierce the top of the cake all over with a skewer (a cocktail stick is perfect). Drizzle two or three tablespoons of the alcohol you used in the mixture over the cake. Wrap the cake well in a double layer of greaseproof paper then a double layer of tinfoil.

Leave the cake for one week. Unwrap it, turn the cake over, then skewer and ‘feed’ the cake again. Repeat the ‘feeding’ process until one week before Christmas.

If decorating the cake cover with marzipan (brush warm apricot jam over the cake before applying the marzipan). Leave the marzipan to dry for a day or two. Ice the cake either with ready-to-roll icing or royal icing.

Enjoy !!!