Homemade Christmas cake
Thursday, November 21, 2013When Husband announced a couple of weeks ago that he was after a homemade Christmas cake this year I felt compelled to tell him to "Stand back, I've got this covered". We've never made our own, instead opting to buy the supermarket small brick version in the past. Husband loves Christmas cake whereas I don't like it at all, which is probably why we've never investigated making our own before. By sharp contrast, my Mum makes one (or two) religiously every year using the same time honoured recipe from this book by Zena Skinner dating back to 1977.
There really is no point in re-inventing the wheel so I borrowed the book and got stuck in. The book naturally falls open at the Christmas cake page and it has all manner of marks and stains from years of use. In fact I daresay it may well be the only recipe ever made from this book, but it is a classic and I imagine nothing would have changed since then whereas other recipes from '77 may well seem quite out-dated by now.
The first thing I noticed was the sheer volume of fruit was enormous compared to the batter.
Our 8" spring form cake tin finally got it's first outing which was good. We were very careful to use a double layer of greaseproof paper (baking paper would have been better, I have now been advised) so the cake wouldn't stick to the tin, plus two layers tied around the outside of the tin to avoid the cake burning. As it happens, my cake did still burn a bit around the sides anyway so I'll have t give it a little shave before it gets any further layers. For the time being it's sitting dormant in an airtight container, awaiting a little feed of rum every once in a while.
Just about to head into the oven
I just hope that it’s going to be enjoyed in five weeks’ time!
Sophie
8 comments
Great book! How lovely to be keeping the tradition alive, I'm sure it will taste fabulous.
ReplyDeleteOoh I'm sure it's going to taste amazing! <3
ReplyDeleteJennie xo | sailorjennie.com
I am going to make my own Christmas cake this year.
ReplyDeleteNo-one in our family likes it, so we've never made or bought one. I expect that by the time you've paid for all the ingredients it may be cheaper to buy one - although homemade baking usually tastes better.
ReplyDeleteoooh looking good! love how prepared you are. I'm going to make a yule log on Christmas eve I think x
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good! My mum always makes a fab Xmas cake. I've recently started baking and have been wondering whether I'd be able to pull one off successfully.. Probably not at this point!
ReplyDeleteOoh we love Christmas cake. So festive & full of fruit. Your cake will be delicious & being homemade makes it that much better :-)
ReplyDeletex Roch & Tash x
www.next-route-style.blogspot.co.uk
I've just made our christmas cake and puddings this weekend and spent around £30 on ingredients - however it is worth it tradition wise and as i have 4 daughters and a step daughter so there was a long time spent on stir up sunday making wishes! I've stuck to good old Delias recipes and spent yesterday watching the puddings steam for 8 hours! Am looking forward to feeding our cake over the next few weeks ;)
ReplyDeleteI love to hear your comments xx