For many people, the fifth of November means Christmas Cake every bit as much as fireworks and treacle toffee.
With the fruit cakes needing at least six weeks to mature after baking, Bonfire Night is a handy reminder if you're planning on baking your own festive treat that you need to get cracking with the dried fruit and brandy.
And if you do fancy leaving it a little longer to mature but forgot to do it a month ago, don’t worry. You can make it now and freeze it when it’s ready in February! But it will still make a delicious Christmas treat if you make it in the next week or so.
If you haven't yet decided on a Christmas cake recipe, why not try out thebestof Rugby's below?
Ingredients
It’s important that the dried fruit and candied peel has plenty of time to soak up the brandy, so this is something you’ll want to start the night before. Mix it all up together in a bowl and cover with a clean tea-towel overnight. If some of the brandy accidentally ‘falls’ into a glass for a nightcap, then that’s up to you.
When you are ready to do the rest the next day, make sure you have all the equipment to hand. The oven should be pre heated to gas mark 1, 275°F (140°C) and you should also have prepared your tin – eight inches for a round tin, greased and lined with parchment with a further layer of parchment on the outside for extra protection.
Now beat the eggs and leave them to one side then whisk up the butter and sugar in another bowl until it is light and fluffy. Keep whisking as you slowly add the eggs bit by bit.
Next sieve the flour, spices and salt into another bowl and then fold (don't whisk) these dry ingredients into the mixture. Then add the brandy soaked fruit, the chopped nuts and treacle and finally the zests of the orange and lemon.
Transfer the mixture to the tin and, if you are not planning to ice the cake, top it with the chopped almonds and cover with a circle of baking parchment with a hole the size of a 50p in the middle.
The oven should now be at the right temperature, so place the tin on the bottom shelf for at least four and a half hours. Don’t check it before about four hours though – and it might need another half hour.
When it’s done, place on a wire rack to cool then make holes in the top and base with a skewer and ‘feed it with a few teaspoons of brandy. You might want to do this a couple of times whilst it’s maturing as well. Double wrap it in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container until Christmas.
Or, visit one of the Christmas events taking place in Rugby such as the Bazaar at the Myton Day Hospice, where you are likely to find delicious home made Christmas cakes for sale on the stalls.
