Birthday cake

Bargain_Rzl

There must have been a thread on this subject before but I don't remember one, and can't find anything on the recipe index...

Basically, housemate has a big birthday (with a nought) on Friday and I have offered to make him a birthday cake. Obviously I didn't start making it several months ago so can't do a proper OS alcoholic fruit cake and I'd like to use mainly ingredients I already have.

It needs to be something that will keep a few days, as the birthday boy is going away for the weekend and I will be unveiling it when he gets back, having cooked it on Friday evening which is the only spare time I have this weekend!

Ingredients I have which may be relevant are: plain flour, SR flour, brown bread flour, caster sugar, granulated sugar, light brown soft sugar, no icing sugar but I need to get some anyway, butter, stork, eggs, raisins, milk, ground mixed spice, the remnants of a bottle of cheap brandy. I don't mind spending a couple of quid on additional ingredients but don't have the cupboard space for a whole new set of half-empty packets!

Utensil-wise, I've got a big round cake tin which I bought from Lidl last time they were doing kitchenware, or a 2lb loaf tin.

Suggestions on the back of a postcard please

Bargain_Rzl

...anybody? Or will I be resorting to the Be-ro website?

rchddap1

Someone wanted a birthday cake reciepe a while back....and I decided that it would be nice to make for a certain someone. Yes that certain someone is my partner and the cake in question was a hedgehog cake. Sounds daft, but I know that it will make him smile if nothing else.

Just need to bide my time now .....

If you want to make a fruit cake it doesn't have to be alcoholic. Put the alcohol in a glass instead...it all ends up in the same place.

pancakequeen

Hiya

While you won't be able to produce the traditional christmas type cake in such a short time frame you will be able to have a simliar type cake. All fruit cakes improve with keeping but also are easier to slice if you make it a few days before you need it. I would also use ready to roll out mazipan and icing for ease and quickness. If you make the cake and then wrap it in foil once it has cooled down then you can 'ice' it after the weekend.

this is a basic christmas cake type recipe:it is for a 8 in cake tin.

11oz currants
7 oz sultanas
7 oz raisins
4 oz glace cherries, chopped
2 oz mixed peel
(you could get a bag of mixed fruit and make up to the required total weight with the fruit you have in)
1 orange, grated rind and juice
1 lemon, grated rind and juice
3 tablespoons brandy
9 oz plain flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
9 oz butter (or marg)
9 oz dark muscovado sugar
4 medium eggs
2 oz almonds
1 tablespoon black treacle

the night before you are going to bake it put all the fruit in a bowl with the juice and rind of the orange and the lemon. Add the brandy and stir well, cover and leave in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 140 C gas mark 1. Grease the cake tin and line with greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together and then alternating add the eggs and the dry ingredients, mix together well. Fold in the fruit mixture and the black treacle.

Spoon mix into the cake tin and smooth top. Cover top of cake loosely with foil. Bake for between 4 and 4 1/2 hours, until the cake is firm and a skewer will come out clean.

HTH
anne

Bargain_Rzl

Anne - thank you, that's exactly the sort of thing I was after :A

I used to have a fab recipe that I got out of the nectar card machine in Sainsburys about 6 years ago - I used it for a Christmas cake and it was amazing - most of it fed my colleagues the day we went back to work after the New Year! But I lost the recipe when I moved house :doh::doh::doh: It was quite pricey though as it had rather a high booze content

twink

this is from mary berry fast cakes
somerset fruitcake

gr rind and juice i orange, sweet cider, 4oz soft marg,2 eggs beaten
60z light brown sugar,8oz sr flour, 1 level tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mixed spice, 1/2tsp nutmeg, 8oz currants
oven 180oc, gas 4
grease and line 7 inch deep roundcake tin
put orange juice and rind in measuring jug make up to 1/4 with cider
measure all rest of ings in a bowl add cider and orange beat well till thoroughly mixed put in tin, level top bake about 1hr test with a skewer
leave to cool in tin 10mins then turn out onto cooling rack