Making the Christmas Cake

Thank you PECS and Callistemon. I like both of your ideas so will now make my own cake, the first time in 20 years!

I used Delia's recipe yesterday, and reduced the temperature by 10 degrees as it was on the fan setting. I left it be for 4 hours then checked it. It looked fine but I switched the oven off and left it a further 10 minutes. It looks cooked to perfection, so hope it tastes as good as it looks. ?
I always wash the dried fruit prior to soaking in the brandy. It's surprising how dirty the water looks! Like others, I inspect the fruit for stalks, too.

another I too am Spartacus moment - springy chicken, my recipe said 4 1/2 hours and I didn't check at 4 hours, which I when it probably would have been perfect.
Ah well, this means a happy Mr i, there is a slightly crispy round the edges fruit cake for him to enjoy. I will no doubt find it impossible not to do the same, even though I seem to have jeans that keep shrinking in the wash
I'm soaking yet more fruit and will try again. Let's face it, we aren't going to be out on the razzle, out at the theatre, looking after grandchildren (well those of us in the vulnerable group won't) so hey ho, let them make cake.

Mine's in the oven. It turned out to be a mixture between Mary's and Delia's.

The mixer went kaput though
I could never be a TV chef, they are always so neat and organised and never spill anything.

Iam64


Delia says 4-4 and a half hours at 140C and do not open the oven before 4 hours.
I opened the oven (130C) at 3 hours 58 minutes and the fruit on the top was toasted.

I'm happy to eat cake.
Or this evening - bread and butter pudding.

I plan to turn the shelf over, so the cake is slightly below the centre. I will also revert to wrapping the cake tin in a thick layer of brown paper and putting a double circle of baking paper on top of the cake.
Will this be enough to stop disaster striking again?

Iam64

I plan to turn the shelf over, so the cake is slightly below the centre. I will also revert to wrapping the cake tin in a thick layer of brown paper and putting a double circle of baking paper on top of the cake.
Will this be enough to stop disaster striking again?

In a previous life in London as a semi-professional caterer I made Christmas cakes for many of my clients and their friends.
I started in early November baking two at a time thinking one might be for us.
One year, each time I finished two somebody would ring me with another order. In the end I think I made about 26 and “ours” was not baked until mid-December.
For economy I tied a double layer of newspaper found the baking tins which worked really well and I always put a double thickness of greaseproof or brown paper on top with a 10 p sized hole in the middle. Delivering them could be a bit hairy, I remember once driving round Hyde Park Corner and “feeling” the whole load in the boot start to slide sideways.
Fortunate my royal icing came a close second to reinforced concrete and they survived!

Thanks MawB2, good to have the brown paper and top over (with 10p hole) confirmed.

As for the icing. I confess to only ever having done Royal, that is a snow scene with a dancing snowman/Father Christmas on the top. Maybe I should practice icing the burned cake? Has anyone used the bought ready rolled icing - I've always feared it may spoil the cake. (I can do that single handedly)

Yes, I omitted the paper topping.
Never mind, I'll have t slice the top off and test the cake.

Yep I too did a Delia. Wrapped round the brown paper and paper on top. Didn’t look at it for 4 hours and yes it’s overdone. ?

I have been waiting for my oven to be repaired for 2 months (Covid shortage of spares). So its full steam ahead making Delia Smith' christmas cake which always turns out good. Fingers X'd.

Advice please. Last autumn I made two Christmas cakes, one to take with me to the UK and the other to have available here in France for seasonal get togethers with my French friends.
In the event, I was unable to entertain before I left for the UK, so I put the un-iced second cake in the deep freeze, well wrapped. It's still there now, a year later. My question is, would it be safe to defrost it, ice it and use it this Christmas?

I would.
But then, I intend to eat a 3 year old Christmas pudding!

I always use the fondant icing nowadays, although I used to use royal icing. I like the flat icing look with a design of stars or icicles or Christmas trees. I’ve made some pretty designs using this over the last few years. This year I’m going for a simple design using a rose gold cake board, ribbon and rose gold small stars, and a large star in the middle, I think. Should be effective.

maddyone, do you make your own fondant icing, or use the ready roll stuff available in supermarkets. Its a long time since I iced a cake, other than with royal icing, which I want to avoid this year

Sounds lovely maddyone.
I used fondant icing ( supermarket) a few years ago, but the family consensus decreed going back to royal icing peaked into snow ( comforting and nostalgic).

Iam I use the supermarket ready to roll stuff. You can buy it in different colours from cake making shops, but I stick to white and use food colouring if I want the decorations to have a bit of colour. My Christmas cake is a traditional rich fruit cake, so I use marzipan first, then icing. I buy the marzipan as well these days, no point in making life difficult when the pre made products are so good nowadays. I do make my own cake though, the bought ones aren’t as nice (they don’t put as much brandy in as I do ) I have used the fondant on top of sponge cakes too, I put butter cream on the cake and then the fondant icing on top on a sponge. I usually make sponge cakes for special celebrations such as my mother’s 90th or my adult children’s 40ths.

Reading these posts reminded me that I need to get my act together. I use a Jane Grigson recipe and feed it a lot. We don't like icing and I usually don't bother with marzipan. It's a large cake and we eat it in about 2 weeks. For those who are worried about the size, perhaps cut the cake into sections and freeze each one individually.

"specki4eyes" have you tried explaining mincemeat to your French friends?

I tried James Martin's recipe this year, you put the soaked fruit in a large pan with the butter and sugar, simmer gently for 30 mins, let it cool, then add the rest of the ingredients. Like those above, it didn't take as long to cook as recommended. You can imagine my reaction on going into the kitchen later to find one of the cats had nibbled through thr cling film!!!

You've inspired me to make a my first ever (at the age of 59) Christmas cake. I know it will only be me eating it because I'm the only one in the family that likes it. For years I have bought a small cake, but so often am disappointed with them either being too dry, or not enough mixed fruit.

I have printed Mary Berry's recipe, and have one from Canadian Living magazine. I will look at both recipes and try to cut in half to make in either a small bundt pan or loaf pan.

Mary's recipe says bake for 4 hrs @ 140c, but Canadian Living says 2 hrs @ 150c with a pan of water in the lower rack. 4 hours seems an awful long time to me, so I may go with the CL recipe.

Dinahmo yes and they were completely nonplussed! Reminds me of the cake made by Rachel in Friends when she included minced meat in a trifle!
I have made Delia's Last Minute Christmas Cake several times when I was too busy during autumn. It is excellent. My late SIL never used any other recipe and her cakes were always relished.
I just like the long slog of a traditionally made cake and the fun of dosing it with brandy each week!

This year I've made Delia's Creole Christmas cake, it looks and smells gorgeous. Just hope I can decorate it before New year's day. It's a bit of the job I hate as I'm rubbish at icing even using consenting looks like dominoes been using it for motocross.

I handed my cake over to DD yesterday along with a small bottle of brandy for feeding. She and DGD will marzipan and ice it and (hopefully) bring it with them on Christmas Day. ??