So, this week’s blog is a big festive one, the precious Christmas cake. In the past if I’ve made a Christmas cake I’ve never taken the time to feed it and make it with enough time to spare its always been more last minute. As if a Christmas cake wasn’t a task in itself it was for family. I always love getting asked to make cakes for people and making this cake certainly made me feel festive. When I baked the cake it was 3 weeks before it needed to be ready for, this meant I had time to feed it with alcohol. Once it was baked, I had plenty of time to gather my decorating ideas.
Let’s start with the cake, in the middle of November the kitchen at uni was already starting to smell festive. For the cake I used a deep 8inch tin that is going to come in handy when I do more tiered cakes. I even had to buy string of all things, just so I could try the baking paper around the outside of the tin. I used the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange. Considering I can’t stand the smell of citrus I didn’t really enjoy that part. In a bowl over a saucepan I softened 250g butter. Once the butter was melted I added 1kg mixed fruit, the zest and juice, 210g brown sugar. At this stage you can also add your choice of alcohol, in this case I added 150ml of Rum. I brought this to the boil and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. You need to let the mixture cool for 20-30 minutes. . That took far longer than it should but I tied paper round in the end, and then I lined the tin on the inside. The paper around the outside helps the cake bake more evenly, I realised Christmas cakes take a while to bake. I got my tin ready whilst I was waiting for the fruit mixture to cool.
In a separate bowl I added 200g ground almonds, 170g plain flour, 2 teaspoons of mixed spice and cinnamon. I added the fruit mixture along with some vanilla extract. It’s important the fruit mixture is cool when you add the eggs. Add 4 eggs to the bowl and stir making sure all the flour is incorporated. I’m not the biggest fan of Christmas cake but it definitely seemed very festive. I preheated the oven to 130 degrees. I spooned all the mixture into the tin, the mixture was so heavy but there is something very satisfying about how you prepare a Christmas cake tin. I baked the cake in the oven for 2hrs 15 minutes. Once I took it out of the oven, I poked holes in the top and spooned 2 tablespoons of Rum over the top. At this point I let the cake cool completely. Once it was cool I took it out of the tin, covered it and put it in an airtight container.
I fed my cake once a week for 3 weeks. Feeding just involves pouring 2 tablespoons of your desired alcohol on the cake every so often. This should help keep the cake moist. This step is optional and also dependent on how much time you have. In this case I had plenty of time, I decorated my cake on the Wednesday so you don’t want to feed it too close to decorating because it won’t have the chance to soak through. Before I knew it, it was time to decorate the cake. At uni, although I have a lot of my baking stuff, I don’t have any cake boards or boxes, luckily, I didn’t miss that delivery. I ordered a cake board that was 10 inches so it fit perfectly. I had a rough idea of what I was going to do with the decorating and made sure I put the icing and marzipan in the weekly shopping. I also ordered some holly icing cutters than came in 3 sizes.
I actually ended up decorating the cake, the same night we had our house Christmas dinner at uni. I was already in the Christmas spirit, decorating the cake was the icing on top (excuse the joke). I added a little apricot jam to keep the cake in place. I added a layer of jam to the cake so the marzipan could stick. I added a sheet of marzipan, I bought pre-rolled icing and marzipan because it just made it easier. I’ve had bad experiences using it in the past and I didn’t want to take any chances. I tried to smooth this out as best as possible and it’s safe to say I was getting a bit stressed because I really cared how it turned out. I added a little water once the marzipan was on to help the icing stick. It was annoying because I tried to get it as smooth as possible. Each time I cut the excess off and then focussed on smoothing. Around the base of the cake I added some red tartan ribbon and some gold Merry Christmas ribbon. I didn’t have much to hold the ribbon in place and used a toothpick to keep it there, which I thought was quite clever. Then all that was left was to decorate the top. I coloured some white royal icing green at the expense of dying my hands. I rolled out the icing and used the largest holly cutter I had. I loved how the leaves came out of the mould, it was simple but very effective. I coloured some more icing, red and rolled them into little balls. I arranged the leaves in pairs around the outside of the cake. I added a larger wreath in the centre and added a few gold sprinkles for some contrast.
I was so happy after I stepped back and looked at it finished. Once it was safely in the box and I had taken my photos I left it alone, waiting for it to be collected the next day. I also get nervous when I bake cakes for people because I’m worried they won’t like it. They loved the cake and I was so relieved, can’t wait to hear feedback on Christmas day, how it tastes. Now I’m finished uni for Christmas, there is a couple more bakes I’m trying to fit in, so keep your eyes peeled. I hope Russell and Tiffany have a lovely Christmas this year and enjoy the cake. If you haven’t already follow my page on Instagram @bakesbyhannahuk, it would mean a lot to me. I hope you have a lovely week, preparing for Christmas.
Lots of love,
Hannah x
Well I can’t wait to taste the cake when I visit Russ and Tiff on Xmas day. Lov Aunty Lyn xx