Christmas Cake

[northepaul]

DO make your next Christmas cake three month before reuired and keep it in a cool place.

Sorry to disagree with you Ken, but my gran used to make her cake afew months early, and it was dry as sawdust.

Incase you didnt read the other posts I soaked the fruit overnight in brandy.

I also fed it last Sunday with some more brandy...smells devine

Hey its my first time making trad xmas cake, so if it comes out more or less ok =

I do have an absolutely STUNNING Norwegian Christmas nougat cake recipe I May share...

[Jeanied]

Well, now NorTheaPaul - you can't leave it just like that!!!!
* having said that I do have a rather nice recipe for Blotcake which I think is Norwegian too!!

[annacruachan]

Northepaul and Jeanied - what are you both waiting for? Bring on the cakes!

[northepaul]

Well, now NorTheaPaul - you can't leave it just like that!!!!
* having said that I do have a rather nice recipe for Blotcake which I think is Norwegian too!!

LOL!! OK I'll post it in a new thread on condition you share the Blotcake recipe

[Alison]

Sorry to disagree with you Ken, but my gran used to make her cake afew months early, and it was dry as sawdust.

I think that may have more to do with your gran's cake making abilities / recipe than the leaving it for so long. If it's the right sort of cake then leaving it will improve it no end and make it taste richer. I soak mine overnight in alcohol and try to make up months in advance but also like the fact that it's a job sorted with plenty of notice.

[Brengirl]

Noticing this thread again I thought I had better take a look at the one I made earlier in September. It has had the intermittent preservative and is really moist now. As not everybody enjoys the marzipan and icing I intend to make this as an extra. Mould the almond paste into an open book shape. Cover with fondant icing and write your seasonal messages on the icing.

I will glaze top of the cake to finish it off

[northepaul]

Noticing this thread again I thought I had better take a look at the one I made earlier in September. It has had the intermittent preservative and is really moist now. As not everybody enjoys the marzipan and icing I intend to make this as an extra. Mould the almond paste into an open book shape. Cover with fondant icing and write your seasonal messages on the icing.

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I will glaze top of the cake to finish it off

Looks Lovely Brengirl

I think Alison may be right about my Gran's method...but it has rather put me off leaving cake months in advance...

I am going to give it two more feeds, (NB Everyone thinks I am crazy when I say I am feeding my cake....)and then marzipan and ice it. I have two of my Gran's little christmas toppers to put on it...

[Alison]

I have two of my Gran's little christmas toppers to put on it...

Oh that's lovely, her cakes may have been rubbish but you've got something nice to connect with

[crazywitch]

A tip that works!
Soak all the fruits in brandy for several days in a sealed container, turning once a day. DO make your next Christmas cake three month before reuired and keep it in a cool place.

i made my own marzipan one year using a lot of brandy lol. it kept well and what i didn't use on the cake made very nice marzipan sweets with nuts and dried apricots.

[Hilary B]

I made my 'own recipe' Christmas cake today, in fact it is in the oven as I type.
I don't like currants, sultanas or raisins, so I use all sorts of other dried fruit (this year a lot of it was cranberries, but also dried apple, apricot, banana and mango). I also don't add spices, because with soft brown sugar and loads of fruit (soaked for a couple of hours in some vodka we had no other use for) it has all the flavour you could ask for.
Since I also don't like ground almonds or almond essence (yes, I do eat whole almonds, it's just the processed ones that I find horrible) it will get a fondant icing topping.

[northepaul]

I made my 'own recipe' Christmas cake today, in fact it is in the oven as I type.
I don't like currants, sultanas or raisins, so I use all sorts of other dried fruit (this year a lot of it was cranberries, but also dried apple, apricot, banana and mango). I also don't add spices, because with soft brown sugar and loads of fruit (soaked for a couple of hours in some vodka we had no other use for) it has all the flavour you could ask for.
Since I also don't like ground almonds or almond essence (yes, I do eat whole almonds, it's just the processed ones that I find horrible) it will get a fondant icing topping.

I kind of did that, as I cant eat oranges, and love different dried fruit, I used cranberries, pineapple, apricots and dates.

[northepaul]

Disaster with icing...

Oh why oh why did I buy ready roll icing??
I bought it Friday to use today, followed instructions to the letter - the icing was really dry and fell apart as I unrolled it Now the cake looks like a playdough cake my daughter made at school
I am going to complain to Silver Spoon!

[northepaul]

Thought I would post the finished article - sorry about the quality of the image, no excuse except hurriedness
Covered botched areas with ribbon and snowballs - its the taste that counts...right

[Brengirl]

When we bake we follow recipes and use our skills to blend the ingredients with care. But, the most important ingredient is LOVE. That's what makes homemade cakes so special.