How to Make A Christmas Cake - The Victorian Way
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Christmas is approaching so Mrs Crocombe is making a cake for Lord and Lady Braybrooke at Audley End House.
This traditional plum cake is based on a recipe by Charles Francatelli, who was Queen Victoria's chief cook from 1840 to 1841.
INGREDIENTS
680g plain flour
680g butter
450g caster sugar
450g dried chopped cherries
680g currants
680g candied peel
225g ground almonds
8 eggs
Zest of four oranges
15g ground spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)
½ pint of brandy
For the almond paste:
225g ground almonds
450g caster sugar
A little orange water
3-4 egg whites
For the icing:
6 egg whites
680g icing sugar
Lemon Juice
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 160ºC, 320ºF or gas mark 3.
Line a large cake tin with butter and greaseproof paper.
Soften your butter, then combine with the sugar, flour and eggs gradually. Then incorporate the cherries, currants, candied peel, ground almonds, spices and brandy until you have a thick mixture.
Pour this mix into your lined cake tin, then place in a preheated oven and bake until a skewer comes out clean when placed into the centre of the cake. This will take around six hours, but keep an eye on it.
Once your cake is out of the oven, remove it from the tin and leave it to cool on a wire rack. You can then make the almond paste.
Mix the ground almonds, caster sugar and orange water together in a bowl. Slowly add in the egg whites, and mix until the mixture comes together into a dough. You may not need to use all of the egg whites, so keep an eye on the consistency of the mixture so it doesn’t become too thin.
Take your almond paste and roll it out until it is around 5mm thick. Using your cake tin as a guide, cut out a circle to cover the top of the cake, and a strip to encircle the sides. You can then place it over the cake, using jam or water as a glue if necessary.
Next you can make the icing by mixing the egg whites and fine sugar together. Add a few drops of lemon juice until the mixture becomes spreadable. Cover the cake in this icing mixture and leave this in a dry place until it turns hard.
You can then decorate the cake by piping on some more icing. It’s up to you to choose your decorating style, but if you’d like to keep it authentically Victorian we suggest writing a Christmas message onto your cake. You can add a little food colouring to your icing to create an array of colours for your cake.
Discover more Victorian Christmas recipes:
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Professional Baker Teaches You How To Make FRUIT CAKE!
Classic Holiday Fruit Cake is on the menu in Chef Anna Olson's amazing kitchen, and she is going to teach you how to make this delicious recipe from scratch! Follow along with the recipe below!
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Recipe
Makes 2 9-inch round fruitcakes
Ingredients
Fruit soak
1 cup (75 g) diced candied orange peel
1 cup (150 g) raisins
1 cup (120 g) dried cranberries
1 cup (125 g) chopped pitted prunes
1 cup (225 g) chopped candied pineapple
½ cup (150 g) dried currants
½ cup (60 g) dried cherries
¼ cup (55 g) finely chopped candied (crystallized) ginger
1 cup (250 ml) sweet sherry or brandy
½ cup (125 ml) orange juice
1 Tbsp (6 g) finely grated orange zest
1 Tbsp (6 g) finely grated lemon zest
1 Tbsp (6 g) finely grated fresh ginger
Cake
1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ (75 g) cup ground almonds
2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ (5 g) tsp baking powder
¼ (2 g)tsp salt
¼ cup (60 ml) + 1/2 cup (125 ml) sweet sherry or brandy
1 cup (125 g) chopped pecans, plus an additional 1½ cups of whole pecans for garnish (optional)
Directions
1. For the fruit soak, toss the candied orange peel and all of the dried and candied fruits together with the sherry (or brandy), orange juice, orange zest, lemon zest and ginger. Cover and chill this mixture at least overnight, up to 3 days, stirring occasionally.
2. Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C) and grease 2 9-inch round cake pans.
3. Beat the butter and brown sugar until well light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the ground almonds.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt and stir this into the batter. Stir in ¼ cup of the sherry or brandy. Fold the chopped pecans into the batter then add the soaked fruits, stirring well to coat the fruit. Spoon this into the prepared pans and spread to level. If you wish, arrange pecans on the top of the cakes in a ring. Bake the cakes for 2 hours and 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
5. While still hot from the oven, brush the tops of the fruitcakes with some of the remaining ½ cup of sherry or brandy. Brush again one or 2 more times as the cakes cool, then remove the cakes from their pans and wrap well.
The fruitcakes will keep for up to 8 weeks in a cool place, or can be frozen for up to 6 months.
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#OhYum #HolidayDessert
Christmas Cake Recipe - Easy Fruit Cake that's beautifully moist!
An easy Christmas cake that turns out perfect every time. No creaming, beating or soaking of fruit required! Plus tips on storage and feeding your Christmas cake.
Feeding your fruit cake in the weeks leading up to Christmas helps to build and intensify the flavour of the cake, and will ensure it's beautifully moist.
Oven Temp:
Bake in the oven at 150C/300F (fan) for 45 minutes, then 140C/275F (fan) for a further 60-75 minutes - until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Alcohol-free Christmas Cake:
For a non-alcoholic version, you can replace the alcohol with cold tea, fresh orange or apple juice.
You can then feed the cake with either:
1. Cold tea
2. Fresh orange or apple juice
3. Ginger cordial mixed with water (2 tsp mixed with 2 tbsp water)
4. Rum flavouring mixed with water (⅛ tsp mixed with 2 tbsp water).
If you do this, don’t make the cake any earlier than November, as juice (as opposed to alcohol) could start tasting funny after more than a couple of months.
The full Christmas cake recipe is available on our site:
The easy fruit cake ingredients:
3/4 cup (175g) unsalted butter, chopped
1 packed cup (210g) light brown muscavado sugar
2 + 2/3 cups (400g) mixed dried fruit
1 cup (200g) glacé cherries roughly chopped
1 cup (100g) dried cranberries
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (120ml) cherry brandy
1/2 cup (85g) ground almonds (coarsely ground - not the type that is like flour)
3 large eggs lightly whisked
1 + 2/3 cup (200g) plain/all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice
To feed the Christmas cake:
Cherry brandy (1-2 tbsp per week)
#cake #christmasfood #christmas
Light Fruit Cake Recipe Demonstration - Joyofbaking.com
Recipe here: Stephanie Jaworski of Joyofbaking.com demonstrates how to make a Light Fruit Cake. Although not a proper British Fruit Cake, this Light Fruit Cake should not be ignored. It has lots of what I consider the best part of a fruit cake, candied fruit. I love this cake's delicate almond flavor and you don't have to wait weeks to enjoy this tea bread, as it can be eaten the same day it's baked.
We welcome questions on our Facebook page:
The Ultimate Fruitcake – Bruno Albouze – The Real Deal
Here is a stunning 2 foot long fruitcake version. A must have Sunday breakfast treat!
It begins with a crystalized ginger flavored butter and ends up loaded with fruits: golden raisins soaked in flambéed rum, candied orange peel, lemon, red cherry berry and tutti frutti dices.. OMG!
To get the full recipe go to
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Super MOIST Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe | Holiday Favourites
This super moist Christmas Fruit Cake is going to be the best recipe you've ever tasted! This Fruit Cake is loaded with dry fruits which are soaked in alcohol, super moist and bursting with flavour! This cake is a must have on your Christmas platter and will leave your family and friends wanting more!
Super Moist Christmas Fruit Cake Full Written Recipe (Part 2) -
Soaking Fruit Video Recipe (Part 1) -
Soaking Fruit Written Recipe (Part 1) -
#platinitwithwendy #fruitcake #goanfood
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Music Credits
Angels We Have Heard on High Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License