Cher's Christmas Cake Recipe this includes the marzipan recipe and the Royal Icing I found it easier to work by making up a table as I used to do confectionary, Wedding Cakes etc for people and so this is how I do it......
Tin 6" (15cm) 9" (25cm) 11" (28cm) Sizes Round or 5" round or 8" round or 10" (13cm) square (20cm) square (25.5cm) square
currants 8oz (225g) 11/4 lb (575g) 2lb (900g)
sultanas 3oz (75g) 8oz (225g) 12oz (350g)
raisins 3oz ( 75g) 8oz (225g) 12oz (350g)
glace' cherries rinsed and finely chopped 1 ½ oz (40g) 2 ½ oz (60g) 4oz (110g)
brandy 3 tablespoons 4 tablespoons 6 tablespoons
plain flour 4oz (110g) 10oz (275g) 1lb (450g)
salt A pinch ½ teaspoon ½ teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ½ teaspoon ½ teaspoon
mixed spice 1/4 teaspoon 3/4 teaspoon 1 teaspoon
unsalted butter 4oz (110g) 10oz (275g) 1lb (450g)
dark soft brown sugar 4 oz ( 110g) 10oz ( 275g) 1lb (450g)
eggs medium 2 5 8
almonds chopped 1 ½ oz (40g) 2 ½ oz(60g) 4oz (110g)
black treacle 1 teaspoon 1 tablespoon 1 ½ tablespoons
grated lemon rind ½ lemon 1 large lemon 2 lemons
grated orange rind ½ orange 1 large Orange 2 Oranges
approx cooking times 3 ½ hours 4 ½ hours 5 ½ hours
The following method is used for all sizes of Cake
THE NIGHT BEFORE: Place all fruit and peel into a bowl and mix in the brandy,(rum or Sherry) cover with a cloth and leave in the cool, so that the fruits soak up the brandy. Line a greased cake tin, with greased proof/cooking parchment paper, and outer line the tin with brown wrapping paper tying securely with string.
Next Day - make your cake Pre-heat Oven to 275deg F/140deg C or Gas Mark 1 I also warm the treacle slightly so that it runs easier.You can do this by placing the tin in a bowl of hot water, or even in the oven for a short while.
Now follow the Method, used for all sizes of cake
Method: Sieve the flour, saltt and spices into a large mixing bowl, and then in a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. use an electric whisk if it helps with the larger size Next beat up the eggs, and adding them to the mixture a LITTLE AT A TIME beating them in thoroughly after each addition. If the mixture looks as if it might separate prevent this by adding a little of the flour. Once all the eggs have been added, using a tablespoon, Fold in the flour, gently. Stir in the fruit and peel that have been soaking overnight in the brandy, then the nuts and treacle and the grated lemon and orange rinds.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, and spread it out evenly with the back of the spoon. Make a slight indentation in the middle of the cake to allow it to rise and become not too high. I also add a cover of greased proof paper to fit the top of the cake, making sure there is are several holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. Now bake the cake according to the table. NO PEEKING at it for at least 4 and a hours please, or it will sink in the middle. When cooked, and you can check with a needle, by pushing it through the top of the cake and seeing it comes out clean, put the cake still in it's tin onto a wire rack leave for a couple of hours then gently ease the cake away from the tin, and leave on the wire rack to go cold. When the cake is COLD remove wrappings and store in new paper in an airtight tin, or plastic tub. You can lace it with rum sherry or Brandy during the next few weeks. To do this, pierce the top of the cake with a fine darning needle, and pour over a few teaspoons of your chosen spirir, to soak into the cake, cover and store again. Repeat this at intervals for a week or two. After THREE weeks at the least you can cover the cake with an almond (marzipan) paste, and three weeks later with a Royal Icing. I can post these recipes and decorative ideas too if you so wish. Let me know! - I did ...lol
ALMOND PASTE
Tin 6" (15cm) 9" (25cm)
11" (28cm) round Sizes or 5" or 8" or 10" (13cm) square (20cm) square (25.5cm) squareground almonds 8oz (225g) 1lb (450g) 1 ½ lb (700g)
icing sugar 4oz (110g) 8oz (225g) 12oz (350g)
castor sugar 4oz (110g) 8oz (225g) 12oz (350g)
almond essence 2 drops ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon
lemon juice ½ teaspoon 1 teaspoon 2 teaspoons
brandy 1 dessertspoon 1-2 tablespoons 2-3 tablespoons
egg yolks 3 5 8
Apricot jam warmed and sieved
For those in America, don't know what you would call this type of sugar, it is fine powdered sugar, used for confectionary over here, perhaps you call it confectioners sugar or something, anyway it looks like powder. Whereas castor sugar is grainier but finer than loaf or granulated sugar. The sugar you would use in a sponge cake......Hope this helps you all.
Mix all the dry ingredients together first, then stir in the almond essence, lemon juice, brandy, and egg yolks and combine everything to form a stiff paste. Place the paste (try saying this one fast) on a pastry board which has been dusted with icing sugar. Now knead the paste into a ball. Try not to handle it too much as the warmth of your hands will make it oily. Now warm the apricot jam, brush it over the top and the sides of the cake. Now take half of the paste and roll it into the shape of the top, approximately 1" larger than the top of the cake itself. Pick up the cake put it top side down onto the paste shape and trim edges if needed.
Now roll out the other half of the paste into an oblong which is half the circumference and twice the height of the cake. Now cut the oblong in half lengthways.Lightly place it around the cake. Press it firmly onto the cake as you go around. Now do the same with the other strip. Press the joins together and turn the cake up the right way. Even up the surfaces with a rolling pin, and sharpen the corners a little on a square cake. Now store the cake as before in clean papers and in an airtight container for at least one week.
Christmas Cake Recipe Royal Icing
Tin 6" (15cm) 9" (25cm) 11" (28cm)round Sizes (13cm) square (20cm) square (25.5cm) square
Icing Sugar 1 lb (450g) 1 ½ lb (700g) 2 lb (900g)
egg whites 2 - 3 - 4 - 6
Place the egg whites in your largest bowl. Then stir in the sifted icing sugar, a bit at a time. When it is all stirred in, Beat well use an electric whisk if you have one. By which time the icing should be standing up in peaks. At least two inches (5cms) high. Use a little icing to stick the cake to a board, now coat the cake with the icing paste, using only one-third of the quantity. Ice the top first and then the sides with a pallette or flat edged knife smooth the icing all the way around it and get it as flat as you can. You can store the icing either in a plastic food container with a lid, or in a polythene food bag, either way stored in the refrigerator overnight.
Store the cake to dry overnight, by placing it in a plastic box in the bottom of a cool cupboard. Give the cake one more coat in the same way the next day. Leaving it to dry out overnight as before. . With the last bit of icing sugar that is left, smooth it on top of the cake as before, but this time, with the flat of the knife lay it over the new coat, and lift it up in sharp jerky movements to create small peaks all over the cake, this to look like soft snow peaks. Leave to dry
MINCEMEAT for mincemeat pies you'll need to make your own shortcrust pastry for this one. You will need enought jam jars or Kilner screw top jars to store this in
Makes approx 6lb (2.75kg) Much better than shop bought!
1lb (450g) cooking apples peeled cored and finely chopped 8 oz (225g) shredded suet, 12oz (350g) raisins 8oz (225g) sultanas 8oz (225g) currants 8oz (225g) whole mixed peel. Finely chopped. 12 (350g) soft dark brown sugar the grated rind and juice of 2 Lemons the grated rind and juice of 2 Oranges 2oz (50g) flaked almonds. 4 teaspoons of mixed spice 1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon 1/2 grated nutmeg 6 tablespoons brandyJust mix all the ingredients EXCEPT for the brandy together in a large bowl very thoroughly. Then cover with a cloth and leave for at least 12 hours.(OVERNIGHT) Now place the mincemeat loosely covered with kitchen foil, in foil paper or Pyrex dish in a cool oven
225 deg F/120 deg C/Gas mark 1/4(quarter) for 3 hours. This will slowly melt the suet which coats the rest of the ingredients and thus preventing it from fermenting - which happens if too much juice from the apples seeps out during storage.Now when this is done allow the mincemeat to get quite cold again, stir in the brandy, and spoon into clean sterile preserving jars. Cover and seal and store. Use to make mince meat pies using your favorite pastry mix. These can then be frozen. So make a lttle in advance if you need to. Bon Appetite!
I need to look up me grannies Christmas Pudding Recipe and type it out on here..I'll do this later cheers.....Cher