Aagghh! Christmas cake disaster! Any ideas?

BNU_2

Alfietinker wrote:

Last night I was following Delia's mince meat recipe which meant having the oven on for 3 hours at gas mark 1/4. So I put the cake back in at the top of the oven, and left it to cool in there overnight.

Hi!
I also make Delia's mincemeat - despite being no great fan of hers - but this, and her homemade Chocolate Truffles, from her Christmas Book are a must for the Christmases that we don't spend away.

Homemade mincemeat is about 10 times better than the bought - and makes your kitchen smell delightfully citrusy! - but my tip is to halve the amount of suet she uses and replace it with vegetarian suet. This makes a much nicer, and healthier mincemeat in my opinion, and it still keeps well.

Always add a little more brandy when it has cooled as well! Ahem, to help with the storage life.
- Well it can't hurt can it?!!

Lara

Have to agree with BNU;). I make Delia's mincemeat and it does taste sooooo much nicer. I only use vegetarian suet in any recipe needing it.

Alfietinker

Isn't this great? I go away overnight and voila! There's loads of helpful hints and tips when I get back in the morning!

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one this has happened to! Beginning to feel like a dunce

I used veggie suet as I was making the mincemeat as pressies so I thought I'd be on the safe side. And I 'accidentally' sploshed a little more brandy in - oops

Oh well, I've wrapped the cake in greaseproof and popped it away in the dresser (safely out the grasp of my fat cat's paws) :eek: I'll leave it now and see what happens. I wasn't going to make Xmas pud as I'm the only one that likes it and it seemed an expensive extravagance, but looks like I've got a ready made one if it doesn't work!

Thanks so much for all your help guys! When I've finished losing some weight I'm going to do much more baking next year. But that's too much tempation at the moment.......

Thank you so much

BNU_2

Next year try soaking the fruit in a mixture of sweet sherry and brandy for a day or 2 before you make your cake - this makes for a really moist and flavoursome cake, but because the fruit has already taken up the liquid content your cake shouldn't be too soggy once mixed and cooked. Also I would only ever use butter - not margarine - there is really no point cutting corners on flavour when you are spending out on all of the other ingredients.
Must make one myself sometime - but I usually get lumbered with family wedding, christening, Christmas and birthday cakes etc. so don't often bother when it is just for us - unless we have company for Christmas!

lily_the_pink

Just looked at Delias mincemeat recipe. I always make my own but have never baked it before - is it better than a normal homemade mincemeat recipe? I consulted loads of recipes this year before making it - including a stack of old recipes I found in my grans loft but none of the advocate baking it.

BNU_2

Hi Lily

I think the point of baking it is to sterilise the ingredients and coat the fruits with the fat to seal in the acidity to prevent fermentation in the jar - to give it a longer life. Try this one for a change, I am sure you won't be disappointed. A world apart from the supermarket alternative!

lily_the_pink

I made mine last week!! I shove loads of brandy in which I find preserves everything just fine - I melt the marg (Soya Pura this year as my mum is vegan now and doesn't like the hydrogenated fats in the veg suet) and give everything a good stir. As long as there are no airholes (ie you let it settle) shouldn't be any problems with fermentation.

I might try next year - though I still think it looks faffy. (NB I have kept normal method mincemeat for 3 years and not died from the results or had to cut mold off the top!).