1.4 KiB
Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 250 grams butter
- 125 grams light muscovado sugar
- 125 grams dark muscovado sugar
- 600 grams prunes, apricots, figs, glacé cherries
- 50 grams candied peel
- 3 large eggs
- 65 grams ground almonds
- 100 grams shelled hazelnuts
- 350 grams raisins, sultanas, currants, cranberries
- 3 tablespoons Brandy
- 1 pieces orange, zest and juice
- 1 pieces lemon, zest only
- 0.5 teaspoons baking powder
- 250 grams plain flour
Directions
Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin with a removable base. Pre-heat the oven to 160C/gas 3.
Cut the dried fruits into small pieces, removing the hard stalks from the figs.
Beat together the sugars a and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then slowly mix in the ground almonds, hazelnuts, all the dried fruit, the brandy and the citrus zest and juice. Sift together the flour and baking powder and fold lightly into the mix.
Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing the top gently, and put it into the pre-heated oven. After an hour, turn the heat down to 150C/gas 2 and continue cooking for another 1 1/2 hours.
Check cake is done by inserting a skewer; it should come out with just a few crumbs but no cake mixture. Leave the cake to cool before removing from the tin.
Feed the cake by spiking with a skewer and drizzling with brandy every week until Christmas.
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author: Nigel Slater, "The Kitchen Diaries"
tags: Cakes and Biscuits