Christmas Cake and Pudding

I think the advice is double wrap in greaseproof paper and then wrap in foil. Don't forget to feed it!

I haven't made a C. Cake or pudding for years. My family, apart from late DH weren't keen. However, having read this thread, I think I will have a go at a cake this year. For the first time ever, all my DDs, SiLs and GCs will be together for a big family
Christmas, some meeting for the first time, so a celebratory Christmas cake may go down well. How should it be kept once made? In a tin, wrapped in anything? Advice please.....

Mamar2....Mix all the cake ingredients together in a single bowl..so easy. This cake is a winner!

Traditional Southern Hummingbird Cake

(Ingredients for 3 Layer Cake)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups chopped bananas
! cup roasted chopped pecans
2/3 cup whole roasted pecans for decoration (or you can just sprinkle the top with more chopped pecans)

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring just until ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, bananas, and 1 cup chopped roasted pecans. Spoon the batter into 3 (well-greased and floured) 9-inch round cake pans.
Bake at 350°F (moderate oven) for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes our clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
Place 1 cake layer on a serving platter. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting over cake layer. Top with second layer, and spread frosting again. Top with third cake layer, and spread top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Arrange toasted pecan halves in a circular pattern over top of cake.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1(16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted (add more sugar if needed)
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
(if too dry add 1/2 teaspoon of milk at a time to soften, or more powdered sugar if too soft)

Preparation
Beat cream cheese and butter at medium-low speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in vanilla. Increase speed to medium-high,and beat 1 to 2 minutes or until fluffy.

SueDonim

I'm from the US and I love to bake especially during the holiday season. I took the liberty of copying and pasting your Christmas Cake recipe to my very own 'Recipes' folder. Thank you for sharing and have a Happy Christmas!

P. S. If you don't want to use foil, parchment works well too.

You can add moisture to slow cooked pudding recipes using a bottom rack (upside down saucer will do) and a mold that will fit inside the cooker. Cover the mold tightly with aluminum foil and cut a few slits to allow steam to circulate. Place covered mold on rack. Pour water into your cooker until it covers the bottom of the mold (about 3 centimeters). Cover the cooker and proceed according to the recipe. This method works well for plum pudding, bread pudding and even date nut bread. Enjoy!

I made a Christmas cake for years when Son was at home there were always loads of lads in our house who went through everything like a plague of locusts . Now as we are always on our own for Christmas we don't even bother, this year I am totally ignoring it and if anyone sends us a card I will chuck it in the bin

This is the Delia recipe I use. I can't get barley wine nowadays so I just use more stout and rum.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/traditional-christmas-pudding

Here's mine, Mamar2 or rather my late mil's recipe. It's in imperial measurements but I'm sure folks can convert it to decimal if required.

Christmas Cake

Makes two medium size cakes.

1lb currants
1lb raisins
1lb sultanas
8oz mixed peel
8oz glacé cherries
4oz ground almonds
12oz dark brown sugar
12oz butter or margarine
1lb sifted SR flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (sift into the flour)
2 teaspoon mixed spice
6 medium eggs
A wine glass of whisky or other alcohol, as preferred!

1 Soak the dried fruits in the whisky for 24 hours before making the cake.
2 On the day, stir a spoonful or two of the flour through the fruit to lightly coat it and prevent any sinkage.
3 Cream the butter & sugar together until smooth.
4 Start to add flour & eggs alternately, beginning with a spoonful of flour then an egg and beating well between each addition.
5 Add any remaining flour, the ground almonds and the mixed spice and mix well.
6 Stir in the glacé cherries and mixed peel, and the dried fruit. Stir well to mix.

Bake in lined tins in a very slow oven, gas mark 1, for approx 4-4.5hrs. Do NOT open oven for at least three hours. Use a skewer to check if cake is cooked right through.

I do stages 2 to 5 in my food processor then turn out the mix into a large bowl and stir in the fruits by hand. If it seems dry (mine never is!) add a little more whisky.
You can mess about the the fruits adding more of one and less of another or use different fruits altogether.
I use an 8in round tin and a slightly larger square tin but this cake isn't fussy so use what you have.

Could someone put up cake & pud recipes please? I asked earlier but no-one responded. In fact I'm wondering if my posts are working as I've joined in topics before but feel a bit out of the group talks.

Always make a Christmas cake, and sometimes, (being in Scotland) a clootie dumpling. Similar to a pudding, tied up in a floured cloth, (hence clootie), and steamed. The cake was often made in the October school holidays, but now some times a bit later. My DD's sometimes make cakes as well. As well as a traditional cake, I sometimes make one from a Green and Black cookery book. It has chocolate, fruit and alcohol in it. It's delicious.

Thank you for the chutney recipe whitewave. Might have a go at that. It sounds delicious.

I've been thinking about making my cake & pud soonish. I use Delia's pudding recipe and my late mother-in-law's cake recipe which is fail-safe. I've been using it since 1972.

Last year we went away to my son's for Christmas. I made the cake and pud to take with me and then half way down the M6 to London, I realised I'd left them sitting on the worktop at home.

I'm afraid Mr Tesco brings his Finest pudding to our house. I make a special Christmas cake which is basically a chocolate cake stuffed with nuts, dried apricots & maraschino & glace cherries - delicious but no need to make it until a couple of days before the Big Day

Don't do mine till late October early November. I put all my fruit in a sauce pan with the sugar alcohol spices and butter bring it to the boil and then simmer for 10 mins and then turn it off and leave it over night it makes a wonderful moist cake

Deli as Christmas Chutney

Makes about 13/4 pt.

12oz pitted no soak prunes
10oz pitted dates
1oz dried apricots
1lb onions
1 pint cider vinegar
1 dessert spoonful grated fresh root ginger or 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
2oz sea salt
3oz allspice berries
1lb Demerara sugar

Chop dried fruits and onions very small -can be done in a food processor
Put vinegar in saicepan with salt and ginger - tie allspice berries in muslin bag and bung in.
Bring to boil stir in fruits and sugar. Leave to simmer for 11/2 hrs or until thickened .
Bung into jars with wax disc etc.

Takes 1 month to mature.

U

Never made puddings but usually make a good Christmas cake, only DH and I eat it though so as well as us getting even bigger I usually end up throwing some out so maybe I'll pass this year. Shame none of the younger family members like dark fruit cake, or Christmas pudd

I used to make puddings and cakes in early September, once the DCs went back to school after the summer holidays.
Now, I make an easy boiled fruit pudding in December and buy my pudding? Am I a slut?

I always make them as I've never found a shop bought equivalent that lives up to the family recipe! In fact the recipe is so good that half the Christmas pudding had been eaten when we got it out the larder last December. Turned out to be mice!

October is when I start my cake and puds. Doesn't really matter though when you do it does it.

I work in a well known supermarket and the ingredients for making Christmas cake starts selling very well still around mid October, lots of younger mums in my area following on the tradition. It may have something to do with the WI has revamped itself in my area and lots of younger mums go along to it now.

I always make my own Christmas puddings and cakes, each year the amount grows as friends and family ask me to make them, I am always told they are so moist,No big secret really just soaking the fruit in warm tea and brandy for about four days and making sure I include the juice in the cakes works every time in the puds and the cakes, and I start baking in october with several cakes and puds to make, then pouring brandy over them each week before they are iced and decorated, I love the challenge and every one is decorated differently, I retired early to look after the grandchildren and they love to help. they all love baking.

Funnily enough, I found the remains of last Christmas's cake in a tin yesterday . We had a slice each for tea and it was still perfect. I shall make the creole cake this year as I find all that icing too sweet now. When I defrosted the big freezer last month, there were four puddings lurking in there, so no need to make any more of those.

Always make mine in October half term . I was a teacher in another life and old habits die hard!

My Mum always made Christmas puddings to her grandmother's recipe, in the huge terra cotta on the outside, glazed cream inside, mixing bowl and cooked them in the black, steel, oval boiling pan. These passed to me and are stored in an upstairs cupboard until each October when I make them together with my daughter before she had children and now it is a ritual with my eight year old granddaughter. My daughter knows the equipment and recipe will come her way one day !!