Festive Cake Icing Challenge – Christmas Cake Recipe
To ice a cake, and enter the challenge, you will need to have a cake to ice. Fact. Here’s a super-duper, tried and tested rich Christmas Cake recipe to get your teeth into.
This rich Christmas Cake recipe is from Matt Allison (aka I’m no Jamie Oliver). Give it a whirl and then spread your cake-icing wings. Find out how to take part in the Festive Cake Icing Challenge.
Ingredients
250g raisins (seedless or pitted)
250g sultanas
250g black currants
50g dried apricots
100g chopped mixed peel
200g glacé cherries (quartered)
100g blanched almonds (chopped)
1 wine glass of brandy
300g brown sugar
350g butter
6 eggs
225g plain flour
2 tsp royal baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Plus a lot more brandy for feeding your cake over the coming weeks.
Method:
1. Clean and prepare all fruits and nuts, mix in a bowl and pour over the brandy. Pre-heat your oven to 150°C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar well (you can do this by hand or use a mixer), adding in eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each other.
3. Add the prepared fruits to the mixture and lastly sieve in the flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Mix together. The mixture shouldn’t be too moist as the fruit will sink.
4. Line a round cake tin, approximately 20cm x 7.5cm in size with a double layer of wax paper, on the sides and bottom, cutting the same for the top.
5. Place in the oven for approximately 3 hours. Once the cake starts to brown (approximately 2 hours), cover the top with the additional double wax paper.
6. To check if the cake is ready, insert a skewer into the center and if it comes out clean, your cake is done. If not, put it back in the oven until such time as the skewer comes out clean. Once done, place it on a pot stand to cool down, poke a few holes in the cake with the skewer and spoon over 2-3 tablespoons of brandy, wrapping it in foil for several weeks, adding 2-3 tablespoons of brandy every week.
Thanks again for the cake recipe, Matt.
Inspired? Bake your cake, ice it with love and festive Mzanzi cheer and submit a photo by 27th December 2011 to be in with a chance of winning R1,000 worth of kitchen tools from Yuppiechef.co.za. Find out how you can take part.
