Recipe for Christmas Cake

Rossy2692

Would orange juice do the same job to keep it moist?

witchmabel

Soaking the fruit in the liquid puts the moisture back into it and plump it up - so in theory you could even use water. But it also adds flavour - if you don't want to use alcohol use any fruit juice - I always use orange juice if people ask for a non-alcoholic cake - but have had equal success with apple juice and cranberry juice (very apt for a Christmas cake).

And if you do use alcohol - why not ring the changes. Ginger wine is lovely - particularly if you put some chunks of stem ginger in for some of the fruit. Rum is lovely too - and replace some of the fruit with dates or prunes.

As long as the amount of fruit to cake proportion and liquid to dry proportions stay the same you can fiddle around to your heart's content :rotfl:

Witch M

kethry

I'd agree with witchmabel - soaking the fruit in liquid *before* baking is what plumps up the fruit. You can also use cold tea - try a nice variety like earl grey or something like that, or even a fruit tea.

As for pouring alcohol over the cake afterwards, again, that stops the cake drying out and helps to preserve it (as Heather38 said).. I'm not sure that using, say, orange juice in the same way would work. If you want a non-alcoholic cake then i would make it much closer to christmas than the alcoholic variety.

HTH

keth
xx

witchmabel

Always found that about six weeks beforehand is good for a non-alcoholic cake. So, just about now!!

Which reminds me I must do mine!

Witch M

Alfietinker

So, if I were to soak the fruit in juice, does that mean I don't have to 'feed' the cake? Or just feed with juice instead? Wouldn't the juice go off? Sorry if you've said already, pregnant brain is going somewhat! :rotfl:

recovering_spendaholic

I usually make Delia's Christmas Cake, but I wondered if any of you have got a Christmas Cake recipe which was in a Stork recipe book? - it was a book like the Be-ro cookbook which I had for ages but lost. The Stork recipe was lovely and I have trawled charity shops and bootsales for ages looking for it but to no avail. It was a yellow and white covered paper back (looked a bit like the stork wrapper) and it must be about 25 years ago that it came out (or maybe more - our cookery teacher at school used it). If anyone has the book can they post up the recipe please?

Alfietinker

Sorry, I think I'm going mad. My browser shows there is a page three to this thread but I can't get it, it keeps sending me back here! I replied to see if I could get to the end that way, then I had to write a message to allow a post! I am going mad!!

linzibean

Alfietinker wrote: »

Sorry, I think I'm going mad. My browser shows there is a page three to this thread but I can't get it, it keeps sending me back here! I replied to see if I could get to the end that way, then I had to write a message to allow a post! I am going mad!!

No, it's doing that to me too - think it may be something to do with the forum down time!

researcher

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

I usually make Delia's Christmas Cake, but I wondered if any of you have got a Christmas Cake recipe which was in a Stork recipe book? - it was a book like the Be-ro cookbook which I had for ages but lost. The Stork recipe was lovely and I have trawled charity shops and bootsales for ages looking for it but to no avail. It was a yellow and white covered paper back (looked a bit like the stork wrapper) and it must be about 25 years ago that it came out (or maybe more - our cookery teacher at school used it). If anyone has the book can they post up the recipe please?

When I moved abroad that was the ONE book I took with me - sadly it got lost but it was the best recipe book ever. I was taught to cook with that book and I still miss it. It was issued first in about 1969/1970.

kethry

found pictures of the christmas cake i made for mom last year while i was digging out something else, if you're not confident with icing or hate marzipan, then this may be a way forward for you... its a combination of Delia's glazed nut topping and glazed fruit topping. Very easy, really you just coat the cake with the glaze, then pile the fruits/nuts up ontop, and cover the fruits with a glaze made from brandy and apricot jam. then wrap ribbon around the cake, i chose a nice poinsetta one, and pin a bow to it to cover the join. The ribbon is wired, and i just pinned it to the cake with some dress making pins (but do make sure you take them all out - count them! - my OH ended up with a pin in his mouth after i didn't, last year.. ) - final result here.

HTH someone!

keth
xx