Online Reporter
Big Bite
WELCOME to November! Glory be to God for preserving us. November signals Christmas and it is time to plan your festive feast. Let us prepare for the celebration with family and friends. Having a Christmas cake is a cherished tradition around the world. This is a dense cake, packed with dried fruits like currants, sultanas, raisins and glacé cherries, often flavoured with warming spices and fed with alcohol (like brandy, rum or sherry) over several weeks to keep it moist and enhance the flavour.
Making a Christmas cake, which is often a meticulous process, takes place on “Stir-up Sunday”, ahead of the holiday to allow time for the flavours to mature. This makes it a true labour of love and a deeply symbolic part of Christmas celebrations.
While the rich fruitcake is traditional in Britain, other countries have their own unique Christmas cakes. They include:
Panettone (Italy): A dome-shaped, sweet, yeasted bread with candied fruit and raisins.
Stollen (Germany): A loaf-shaped cake containing dried fruit and marzipan, dusted with powdered sugar.
Bûche de Noël/Yule Log (France): A sponge cake rolled and decorated with chocolate buttercream to look like a log.
Here is our recipe for the week.
Ingredients
200g butter;
200g old-fashioned sugar/brown;
200g plain flour;
Four eggs;
50g almonds, ground;
100ml brandy (optional)
80g mixed peel;
200g cherries;
500g mixed raisins;
100g pecan nuts;
Grated zest of one lemon;
One-and-a-half teaspoons mixed spice;
Half teaspoon vanilla extract;
Half teaspoon baking powder
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C for fan ovens/320°F/gas mark 3).
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add in the flour and beaten eggs, about a quarter at a time, beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.
3. Stir in the ground almonds.
4. Mix in the sherry (Optional). It will look curdled, but do not worry.
5. Add in the mixed peel, cherries, raisins, pecan nuts, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Stir in the baking powder and the mixed spice.
6. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top and make a slight dip in the middle.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. insert a clean skewer into the middle; it will come out clean if the cake is done baking.
9. Leave to cool in the tin, then take it out, peel off the lining paper and let it cool completely. Once cooled, double-wrap it in cling film and cover it with foil.
10. Feed with brandy or orange juice weekly until the week before Christmas.
Rudo Kandiero is a qualified chef with a diploma in food preparation and culinary arts, patisserie and food safety the HACCP WAY. She can be contacted on 0772748509.
