Christmas Cake - nearly as good as Nan's.

Time spent with family and friends is the most precious Christmas gift.  You are very fortunate if you have childhood memories of helping Nan, Nana or Gran cook those fragrant, festive indulgences.  

Some Nanas were good gals and wrote their recipes down but the mischievous ones created magic with a handful of this and a pinch of that - tossing and sprinkling faster than your eyes could follow.  

Naughty Nanas!

My Christmas Cake recipe uses Nan’s recipe tweaked (not twerked) mixed with tips collated from the Australian Women’s Weekly, Stephanie Alexander and Maggie Beer. 

Please Note:  This post follows on from 2 other instalments listed on our blog – soaking the dried fruit 

 http://feedyourinnercook.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/christmas-cake-and-pudding-step-by-step.html

and then preparing the fruit

 http://feedyourinnercook.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/christmas-cake-and-pudding-step-by-step.html.

When baking, I find it more accurate to weigh ingredients rather than relying on cup measurements, but where possible I have included both. 

At the end of the post I have shown off my mastery of the Times Two Table and listed the volumes for doubling the recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 kilogram of mixed dried fruit soaked with ½ cup rum and chopped   (refer previous posts)

The pre-soaked fruit in rum should have a combined weight of approx. 1.110 kg.

60 gram slivered almonds (1/3 cup)

1 tablespoon treacle   OR    golden syrup

270 gram softened butter  (1 cup and 1 tablespoon)

250 gram Dark Brown sugar  - good for a deeper coloured cake  (1 ¼ cups firmly packed)

225 gram plain flour – sifted with  (1 ½ cups)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

2 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

1 ½  teaspoons ground Cloves

½ teaspoon grated Nutmeg

¼ teaspoon Salt

5 large eggs - beaten

PLUS

Handful of whole blanched almonds for decorating top of cake

And for later

30 – 40 ml   - dash more rum to drizzle over AFTER the cake is cooked.

Method

Prepare your baking tins – lightly grease then line carefully with baking paper

See size guide in cooking times listed below.

I find this mix makes 1 x 22 cm   OR    2 x 18 cm plus 1 x 10 ½ cm   OR    7 x 10 ½ cm tins.

Preheat oven to 140 o C  if using a fan    Or    150 o C for a regular oven

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add half of the beaten eggs,  mix in. 

Then add half the sifted flour mixture and stir through.

Repeat with the remaining eggs and flour.

Add the soaked fruit, treacle and slivered almonds and stir to combine.

Pour into the prepared tins.  Don’t fill to the brim. Depending on the size of the tin used, allow a couple of centimetres for the cake to rise. Gently push a slight hollow into the centre of the top of the batter to aid even rising.

Tap the filled cake tin a couple of times (not too hard) on the bench.  This helps remove air bubbles and makes for a nice dense cake.

Place the decorating blanched almonds around the top in your preferred pattern. Gently place the almonds in so they sit just in the batter. The cake will rise around the almonds.

Cooking times for round cake tins 

NB older / newer cake tins  have slightly different dimensions.  Use this as a guide

Also: check about 15 minutes prior to allotted times

22 cm x 7 cm deep  = 3 hours

18 cm x 6 cm           = 2 hours 10 minutes

10 ½ cm x 6 cm       = 1 hour 30 minutes 

Cake is cooked when a skewer is inserted into the middle and comes out clean.  If you have baked it for the allotted time and it is not cooked through, reduce oven to 110 o C and cook for a further 10 minutes, test again – repeat for 5 minute intervals until cooked.

Remove from oven and place cake tin onto a cooling rack.

Drizzle the extra rum evenly over  the hot cake.

Cool in the tin, then carefully remove.  Wrap well in greaseproof then alfoil then plastic. Expel as much air as possible to seal the cake in the wrapping.

Store in an airtight container in the back of a cool dark cupboard.    

Doubled cake ingredient guide

   

2 kilograms of mixed dried fruit soaked with 1 cup rum and chopped   (refer previous posts)

The pre-soaked fruit in rum should have a combined weight of approx. 2.220 kg.

120 gram slivered almonds (2/3 cup)

2 tablespoon treacle   OR  golden syrup

540 gram softened butter  (2 cups and 2 tablespoons)

500 gram Dark Brown sugar  - good for a deeper coloured cake  (2 1/2 cups firmly packed)

450 gram plain flour – sifted with  (3 cups)

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

4 teaspoons ground Cinnamon

3 teaspoons ground Cloves

1 teaspoon grated Nutmeg

½  teaspoon Salt

10 large eggs – beaten

PLUS

Handful of whole blanched almonds for decorating top of cake

And

60 - 80 ml  dash more rum to drizzle over AFTER the cake is cooked.

                                        Enjoy!    Colleen