Quick query about making my own Christmas Cake

r.mac_2

well fruit is well and truly soaked in brandy now - I had the end of a bottle in the cupboard to use up.

Now I'm going to bake the cake next week and feed it up until christmas. I've used all the brandy I had though. I have some blended whisky in the cupbaord - could I use that, or should I splash out on more brandy????

Skint_Catt

I'm sure whisky is more than adequate - I've seen whisky soaked xmas cakes before so depends what you prefer I guess!

r.mac_2

excellent - that'll help the pennies stretch a bit further then

I can't wait to see everyones photos of the finished product!!!

floyd

Minerva wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the best place to buy a small, cheap bottle of Brandy for my Christmas cake? It doesn't have to be drinkable!

Also I have a recipe that requires a band of corrugated cardboard to be tied outside of the tin, could I use brown paper or newspaper instead?

Many thanks!

I have just seen cheap Brandy in Lidl, for about £6 and I paid £7-ish for mine in Sainsburys a few months back. You could also buy some minatures of Brandy, lots of small shops like Spar have them behind the counter but in the long run it may end up costing you more if you feed for a few months

I'm sure you could use newspaper or brown paper because its just to insulate the tin to stop the edge of the cake burning before the middle is cooked when it is in the oven for a long time.

Minerva_2

I think that I will use double thickness newspaper, as I don't have any corrugated cardboard - I hope that it doesn't catch fire!!!!:eek:

Also off to Lidl for the cheap Brandy! Thanks for the tip!

kethry

it shouldn't catch fire.. what may happen is that you get a slightly scorched smell wafting through the house, but your oven should be low enough in temp that it wouldn't catch fire. I used newspaper on mine.. it was fine.

keth
xx

Jasper27_2

I love home made Christmas cake, you've all inspired me to get on with it. In the past I've always just used the cheapest brandy I can find but I'd only use it for cooking. The Sainsbury's own brandy actually made my eyes run just from the fumes, however the good stuff is wasted flavouring a cake. I remember the first time I made a Christmas cake back in my late teens still living at home. Dad was on an overtime ban so we were having a frugal home-made Christmas but it was still great. Some things were better than others, my very artistic and crafty mum made wonderful crackers but the home-made pickled onions were rather strong, no-one ever ate more than one! I know so many perople says it's all become too commercial so it's nice to see plenty of people are still going for home-made treats.

floyd

Jasper27 wrote: »

The Sainsbury's own brandy actually made my eyes run just from the fumes, however the good stuff is wasted flavouring a cake

ha ha I thought that was just me not being much of a drinker, the smell really knocked me sick it was so whiffy! :rotfl:

Butterfly_Brain

squishyclaire wrote: »

As this is a Christmas cake thread, I thought I might also ask for a little bit of advice. I am making hampers this year for pressies and have been making jams and chutneys for the last three weeks. I saw a site on the internet that suggested that you could make a mini xmas cake in a small baked bean tin. I thought this would be a good idea because some of the people I am making hampers for are on their own. Has anyone tried anything like this (or am I the only insane one!) or does anyone have any suggestions of how to make a little cake without going to a major expense buying specialist tins?

I use a loose bottomed square tin and cut into little squares, so much easier than trying to get a cake out of a baked bean tin - trust me I tried it once and ended up with crumbs.:eek:

kethry

re: small christmas cakes - another alternative is those pudding tins, you know, the heinz ones. They're the size of a large tin of baked beans, widthwise, but shorter heightwise. Normally you cut both top and bottom off to get the pudding out, but if you just cut the top off, eat the pudding, then wash the tin out - bob's yer uncle. I made a cake in it last year, did the trick nicely.