Easy christmas cake

Very many years ago I used to make at least six every year for family members. Elaboratedly decorated.
I never ate bought cake.
I found that because of all the rich food over Christmas the cake was still being finished up in February.
Now I don’t like cake at all.

Anyone seen a recipe for a small (not tiny, say 7" tin) Christmas cake? I'm not good at working out proportions of ingredients butter, eggs etc.

winterwhite I often use this - www.deliaonline.com/information-centre/scaling-up-cake-recipes

I've stopped making a rich fruit cake as nobody really likes it except me! So I bake a traditional birthday, vanilla sponge type cake and ice it like a traditional Christmas cake! Goes down quite well, instead of me pigging out and eating the whole thing to myself! I have no willpower when it comes to cake!

winterwhite

Anyone seen a recipe for a small (not tiny, say 7" tin) Christmas cake? I'm not good at working out proportions of ingredients butter, eggs etc.
I didn't discover shop-bought marzipan till years after everybody else ? and that was a real time-saver. Then just rough up the icing with a knife and stick a candle on the top now that the DD have made off with the robin, the pillar box, the log, the several bent fir trees, the Father Christmas, the bit of broken handbag mirror, the penguin... with which they lovingly decorated the cake for many years.

winterwhite I use the Very Rich Fruit Cake recipe from the Stork recipe book. It sets out the ingredients/timings for cakes of all sizes from 5" round (4" square) right up to 13" round (12" square). It is very simple and despite its name nothing like as heavy and rich the one my parents made which was black with currants. I substitute extra sultanas for the mixed peel now but used to make it as written.

Chewbecca I was feeling a bit down and made my xmas cake 9th October (very early but it did lift my spirits a bit) using the recipe you suggested from James Martin as I had all the ingredients except the ground almonds. I did have whole almonds so DH offered to assemble his kit and grind some for me. Unfortunately he ground them ALL so none left to chop as I had anticipated doing. Not sure what it will taste like - certainly easy to make and looks ok though not as risen as I would have thought. Lots of time to feed it now though.

James Martin’s Christmas cake is so easy to make and tastes delicious however, having cooked it many times and using various ovens, the timings on the recipe are far too short. From recall it actually takes around 4; hours.. I usually cook it at half term and love the smell of it permeating the house.

Yes, the proper smells of Christmas. You don’t get them with a shop-bought cake (or a fake tree, come to that).

Oh gosh - Chewbecca and Chewbacca! I didn’t notice the difference either - bit confusing if I may so say!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

@chelseababy; The BBC Good Food website has a recipe by Nadiya Hussain called "Christmas white chocolate traybake" made with mincemeat. I made it for my work's Christmas tea-party for several years, and it went down very well.

I use a Slimming World recipe I was given years ago; it doesn't have any sugar in it; I can post the recipe if you want it.

Two made, one to go.
It's really not that difficult. I use a sort of combination of Delia and Mary Berry and have quantities for three different sizes. ( I'm an average baker, that's all)
Things to know - add up the weight of all the fruit, then choose your own combination. I always put in more cherries, sultanas and raisins, and less currants and mixed peel. As well as the grated orange and lemon peel I sometimes add some of the juice as well. Occasionally I have used marmalade as small part of the fruit mixture.

MOST IMPORTANT
Soak the fruit in brandy for as long as you like - usually around a week for me.
Then its just a question of making a basic cake mix and combining it with the fruit.
ALSO IMPORTANT
Line tin, put double greaseproof paper on top of mix with a hole in the middle, to prevent browning too quickly. Put a collar of brown paper round tin standing higher than tin, for the same reason.

Another tip, if adding black treacle, pop tin in warm oven for a while, so easy to pour into measure.
I usually make them in October, and should keep feeding them with brandy but usually forget.

I haven’t made a Xmas cake for years. As no one in my house likes it. But I love it, so always but myself a small one.
A few years ago my lovely friend at work, was always given a Xmas cake at Xmas from her sister , who made them, but didn’t like marzipan or icing, so used to cover her cakes in thick chocolate. It didn’t sound right to me, but she bought me a slice into work, and yes, you’ve guessed it. Absolutely delicious.
My lovely friend is no longer with us unfortunately.

Sorry, should say buy .

I have a Word doc which has recipes for 6",8" and 9" round cakes - or 5", 7" and 8" square. I'm happy to pass it on if anyone can tell me how to do so!

The Mary Berry Victorian Christmas cake is very nice. Made it several times and it has always been edible, always a surprise when my baking is involved. Nice light colour as opposed to the really dark Christmas cakes normally.

To all those, like me, who need a gluten free cake, I'd like to suggest a recipe by Betty Excell, she gives loads of GF recipes online and has just posted a Christmas Cake recipe. I'm sure she can be easily found on Google

Thank you for reminding me I used to make great fruit cakes, christmas, wedding etc but not done in years as no one save self to eat them now. I used to make huge one and give away chunks to older folk now all passed on. Gluten free for past 20 yrs but think will give it a go and don't care if have to eat all myself . I remember my wedding cake had a tin of strawberries in the recipe! I like nuts so add plenty and presoak fruit in orange juice/spirits.

I've made that one, Alima

I used to make a Christmas cake every year. The children, and then the grandchildren, used to stir the mixture and make a wish. They loved the old fashioned decorations. However, nobody was particularly keen on rich fruit cake. At Christmas, the other desserts would be eaten but the cake would linger. It would be eaten eventually.

Then, nearly three years ago, I got extremely ill on Christmas Day. My family was told that I would probably die. No one felt like eating the rest of the Christmas food, so most of it ended up being thrown away (although my SiL worked his way through the baked ham!) The Christmas cake was untouched and my DD told me later that her dad had said that, if I died, he was going to keep it forever in memory of me.

I think that he got this idea from me. When my mum died, she had baked some scones on the previous day and there was one left. I couldn't bear to throw it away, so I just put it in a kitchen cupboard. It's still there, after twenty seven years. It never went mouldy, just turned rock hard.

Well, as you may have guessed, I didn't die and I eventually came home. The Christmas cake was slowly eaten, until there was a chunk left sitting on the dresser, ignored by everyone. I got sick of looking at it and finally chucked it in the bin.

That's the last Christmas cake I am ever going to make. This Christmas, it will just be me and DH and we are going to have Nigella's Nutella cheesecake. Much nicer and much less fuss!

For those who do want to make a Christmas cake, I also recommend Nigella's recipe. I think it is in the Domestic Goddess book. Anything you don't like, such as peel, you can replace with other dried fruit.

800g mixed dried fruit, soaked overnight in 2 cups orange juice (or apple). Next day add 2 cups self-raising flour (can be gluten-free). Cook in a 7” square or 8” round tine on 140C for 1-2 hours. I make this all year round. At Christmas I generally replace 2tbsp of the juice with 2 of brandy or rum. Decorate, or don’t.

Thanks very much Stardust and Buddie for the tips re sizing down quantities.
The many posts about no one else eating it remind me of an old cartoon picturing a half-eaten Christmas cake on a plate with the caption 'Aunt Maud's Christmas cake was so delicious there was usually not much left by April.'

Chewbecca, you could ask HQ if you could change your version of the name to ChewbEcca.

Still would cause confusion, I think.
Posters like me, skim and scan, so may miss the subtle change.

Nah. Anyone could see the difference. #specsavers?

DD doesn’t like peel so I substitute by upping something else.
Buy the marzipan - and the icing; make a ‘snow scene’ - doesn’t need smooth icing!!