A Christmas cake for people who don’t love Christmas cake
I’ve never been a big fan of traditional Christmas cake or pudding. I find it too dense, with too much fruit – it’s just too much! But this one is a beauty and it’s the best thing to make for people who don’t love the traditional version but still want to get in on the festive, fruity baking act. I’d suggest making two cakes – one to tightly wrap up for Christmas Day or give as a gift to a friend or lovely teacher, and one to keep in a cake tin for morning tea with some cherries on the side.
Ingredients
- 150 g 5½ oz unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup 150 g brown sugar
- ⅓ cup 75 g caster (superfine) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 eggs
- 11/3 cups 200 g roughly chopped dark chocolate
- 11/3 cups 200 g roughly chopped white chocolate
- 1¼ cups 200 g natural almonds, ground into a fine meal (or store-bought almond meal)
- 100 g 3½ oz marzipan, cut into small cubes
- 100 g 3½ oz honey
- 1 cup 150 g plain (all-purpose) flour
BOOZY FRUIT MINCE
- ⅔ cup 150 g dried figs, sliced
- ¾ cup 130 g raisins
- 1 cup 140 g dried cranberries
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp grated orange zest
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 cups 750 ml brandy
Instructions
- Start by making the fruit mince.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large sterilised jar.
- Shake well and leave in a cool, dark place, turning the jar upside down every day or two, for 2 days or up to 2 months.
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
- Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin with baking paper, extending over the side of the tin.
- Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the side of the bowl.
- Once all the eggs are well incorporated, beat for a couple of minutes.
- Measure out 200 g (7 oz) of the fruit mince, reserving the liquid.
- Fold the fruit mince, dark and white chocolate, almond meal, marzipan, honey and flour into the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the cake tin and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until it is springy but not soggy to touch and is beginning to pull away from the side of the tin.
- Remove the cake from the oven and immediately pour the reserved fruit mince liquid over the top.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
- Store the well-wrapped cake in an airtight container for a month or so.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
This cake uses my basic fruit mince recipe, which makes about 3 cups of fruit mince. It’s useful for all kinds of Christmassy things, so I like to make up a big jar at the beginning of December. I use it in cakes and mince tarts (see here), and spoon it over ice cream or into custard tarts. Once it’s been opened, store it in the fridge and use it within a month or so.