Blogs

The Christmas Cake

Just a note: those pecan shortcakes tasted great the next day, split and toasted under the grill, served with butter and blackberry jam. And EUREKA i think ive found my Christmas cake; in fact not really found, but devised it for myself on the basis of what i experienced with those first two flops and after really studying about forty other recipes. it has a great crumb (really caky and full of flavour) without being all cake and no fruit - it has a large amount of fruit in it as well, and almost the right spicing. i shall still tweak the recipe here and there (a touch more glace fruit, a bit more spice) but this is what i have been looking for. i give it here in its present form and will report on tweaks as i go along - i want to bake 5 more to give away as Christmas presents. CHRISTMAS CAKE Baked in a 22,5 cm (9-inch) square pan. Should be baked in a smaller pan, i think, to make it a higher, more substantial, cake. Cake: 300 g raisins 200 g sultanas 100 g currants 75 g candied orange peel 75 gram candied lemon peel 75 g glace cherries (add a bit more) 100 g glace pineapple (add a bit more) 100 g glace glace ginger 8 whole glace figs (not too big - you will see why) 75 g finely chopped blanched almonds grated rind of ½ lemon (could be a whole lemon, I think) 300 gram plain flour 2 tsp ground mixed spice (recipe follows) 1 tsp ground cinnamon (leave out and add more mixed spice) 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder (maybe substitute or add baking soda) 250 gram butter 250 gram soft brown sugar 5 eggs ½ tsp almond extract 1 tablespoon honey (more honey?) ¼ cup rum/brandy/sherry/brandy and sherry mixed (optional) Mixed spice: This is based on medieval spice mixes, from when the combination of fruit and spice in a sort of fruit porridge eventually evolved into Christmas cake as we know it. Freshly roast and ground spices are recommended because they taste much better. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (this works perfectly – the slight undertone of hotness works VERY well) 1 teaspoon cinnamon bark ½ teaspoon whole cloves (I will use 1 teaspoon next time) ½ teaspoon allspice berries ½ teaspoon black cardamom seeds, freed from the pods (use green cardamom if the black is difficult to find) (the cardamom should come through more strongly to my taste - 1 teaspoon, and I think the more astringent flavour of the green pods will be better) ½ teaspoon anise seed 1 tablespoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated Measure the first 7 spices as carefully as possible, roast them in a small saucepan till they start browning and giving off a fragrant aroma. Grind them as finely as you can in a mortar and add the ground ginger and nutmeg. Glaze (1 day before the cake is to be served): ¼ cup fine apricot or berry preserves, sieved 4 tablespoons of the alcohol used for the cake/orange juice 1 tsp lemon juice Cake: 1. Butter and line the tin with 2 layers of baking paper. Cut and butter 2 papers to lay on top of the cake. 2. Cut the cherries in half, cut the orange and lemon peel reasonably small, and cut the pineapple and ginger into larger pieces (though not so large as to make the cake difficult to cut once it is baked). Leave the green figs whole. 3. Mix all the cut fruit, raisins, sultanas and currants carefully. 4. Give the almonds a good whirl or two or three in the blender/food processor with 1 cup of flour. Sprinkle the resulting almond meal and the grated lemon rind over the fruit and fold it in carefully. 5. Preheat the oven to 170 °C/325 °F/Gas 3. 6. Sift the rest of the flour with the spices, salt and baking powder 7. Cream the butter and sugar. 8. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 9. Fold in the flour mixture. 10. Stir in the almond extract and honey, then the fruit. 11. Spoon into the tin, smooth the top with a spoon dipped in hot water and hollow out the centre slightly so that it does not rise with a peak. 12. Press the whole green figs carefully right into the batter with their stem ends above in as regular a pattern as possible. Cover the cake with its paper lid. 13. Bake at 170 °C/325 °F/Gas 3 for one hour, then reduce the temperature to 150 °C/300 °F/Gas 2 for a further 2 - 3 hours. Be careful not to overbake it. 14. Test with a straw or thin twig to see if it is done. 15. Leave to cool. 16. The next day turn the cake out carefully, remove the baking paper and brush over with the alcohol, if used. 17. Wrap in foil and store in an airtight tin until you are ready to serve it (at least 1 week). If you wish, “feed’’ the cake with a quarter cup of the appropriate alcohol once a week and rewrap carefully. (I used rum this time, but I will try it with all the other combinations.) To decorate the cake 1 day before serving: Mix the strained apricot or berry preserves with the alcohol/orange juice and lemon juice. Bring it to the boil in a small saucepan and let it boil briefly to thicken. Brush the cake with the glaze and while it is still sticky decorate with toasted whole nuts and glace fruit, whole or sliced. i feel great! And about my recipe for chicken sofrito at BakeSpace - i have discovered when leftovers spend a night in the fridge, the pasta absorbs all the juice - simple solution: just add another 2 cups of water and reheat, checking for seasoning. The juice is important.