Quick and Easy Christmas cake
Serves 8-12
Ingredients
- 250g unsalted butter
- 300g dark muscovado sugar
- 750g mixed dried fruits, such as candied peel, apricots and pears
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ cup chopped almonds
- ½ cup ground almonds
- 400g mixed raisins, sultanas and currants
- 100ml brandy or port
- Zest and juice of one large orange
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 300g flour
Method
1. Line the base and sides of a 25cm cake tin with a double layer of grease-proof paper, ensuring that the paper is at least 4-5cm above the rim of the tin. You need to do this to prevent the edges of the cake from burning. Grease the paper with a little softened butter.
2. Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
3. In an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Cut the dried fruits into small pieces no bigger than 1cm. add the eggs one at a time - the mixture will look curdled, but don't panic, as it will all come back together nicely later. While the mixer is on slow speed, add the spice, the chopped fruits and the remaining almonds, fruits, brandy and orange juice. Mix until the ingredients are just incorporated - mix for too long and the fruit will sink to the bottom of the cake as it cooks.
5. Sift together the baking powder and flour, and fold it lightly into the mix with a metal spoon.
6. Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin, smoothing the top of the cake with the back of the metal spoon. Place the cake into the oven and bake for one hour and then reduce the oven temperature to 150˚C and bake for a further 2 hours.
7. Do not give in to the enormous temptation to open the oven door to see how your masterpiece is going. Check the cake is done inserting the by tip of a sharp knife into the centre of the cake - if it comes out relatively clean, with no traces of batter on it, the cake is done. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool down in the tin before turning it out onto a cake rack. Decorate with royal icing if you wish, but I find that a good dredging of icing sugar will suffice.