Of Birds & Cake the Blog of Paul: Christmas Cake

Haven't done a Cake post for a while, this weekend I have made our Christmas Cake for 2022, inspired by the long weekend and the fact that the electric prices go up in October and it takes four n a half hours in the oven!! 😲 As for the Christmas Pudding which I made in February I follow Mary Berry's recipe, which always produces the goods! It starts, as many good things do with a slug of Brandy, which was applied to the dried fruits 3 nights ago!! I differ slightly from the mighty Berry at this point, although the overall quantity of fruit is the same, I find her recipe a bit Currant heavy and I prefer Sultanas so the ratio is a bit different I also include a few Cranberries as it is Christmas!!

Organic Brandy, done 3 years now so not bad value for money!!

The fruit a mixture of Organic Sultanas, Currants, Raisins, Glace Cherries, Apricots and Cranberries

Wisely I added an extra 400 grams of fruit in order to make a smaller Fruit Cake to eat on the day of cooking as the smell of delicious Christmas Cake cooking but having none to eat is very frustrating!!

3 days pass!!

First the lining of the tin, this task is traditionally left to Margie as the swearing as I wrestle greaseproof paper, butter and the tin gets a bit much also it's difficult to make a cake when I've thrown the tin through the window in a fit of rage and frustration!!😁😂😱😲

She get's to work

Note clever use of the Sunflower Oil bottle

So clever

Jobs a good un!

The ingredients, mainly Organic, except I struggle to get organic Muscovado Sugar or Black Treacle both are essential for the taste and colour!

The Ingredients

I would like to say, and then the magic happens, but basically you bung all the ingredients, except the fruit, in the quantities suggested by Mary Berry and turn it on, when it's all mixed nicely you mix the fruit in by hand, at first it seems there is too much but trust the Berry it all goes in, then bung it in the lovingly prepared tin and cook at 120c Fan for 4 and a bit hours! At this point refrain from looking at the Smart Meter!😱😰

The mixture

The fruit

The Fruit in the Mixture

In the Tin, make sure you push it right into the corners, yes I know it's round but you know what I mean!!

Four and a bit hours later!

Cool in the tin

When it's cold feed with Brandy and then wrap up well and put in a cupboard, getting out occasionally to feed with more Brandy until it's time to cover in Marzipan and Icing!! Eat on Christmas day with a glass of 10 year old Single Malt Whisky and then in my pack lunch throughout January probably without the Whisky😂!!

What about the smaller cake for today I hear you cry! Don't panic it came out well and has fulfilled it's role to save the Christmas Cake from Margie's ravenous clutches!!