Christmas cake
Christmas cake — a classic British dessert recipe.
By API | Prep: 15 min | Cook: 30 min | Serves: 4
Tags: Dessert, British, Christmas
Ingredients
- 200 g butter
- 200 g muscovado sugar
- 200 g plain flour
- 4 pcs beaten eggs
- 50 g ground almonds
- 100 tbsp sherry
- 85 g candied peel
- 85 g glace cherry
- 250 cup raisins
- 250 g currants
- 100 g pecan nuts
- 1 pcs zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp mixed spice
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 0.5 ml vanilla extract
- 0.5 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C (fan 140C/gas 3) and line the base and sides of a 20 cm round, 7.5 cm deep cake tin.
- Beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer for 1–2 minutes until very creamy and pale, scraping down the sides of the bowl halfway through.
- Stir in a spoonful of the flour.
- Stir in the beaten egg and the remaining flour in alternating additions, a quarter at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.
- Stir in the almonds.
- Mix in the sherry (the mixture may look curdled).
- Add the peel, cherries, raisins, additional cherries, nuts, lemon zest, spice, rosewater and vanilla, then beat together to combine.
- Stir in the baking powder.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, level the top and make a slight dip in the centre.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 150C (fan 130C/gas 2).
- Continue baking for a further 2 to 2¼ hours, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then take it out and peel off the lining paper.
- When completely cold, wrap the cake well in cling film and foil and store until ready to decorate; it will keep for several months.