Friday, December 20, 2013

Christmas cake

 

Christmas (2)

Christmas is just not the same without a yummy Christmas cake for dessert all covered in marzipan, wrapped in a pretty christmas bow with a piece of holly on top. 

Hubby’s Nana used to make it each year and it would sit for weeks in a cake tin in the cupboard until it was ready for eating.  It’s my husbands favourite kind of cake and he likes it heated up like pudding with some yummy custard.

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This year I thought I would make one but I have been a bit slack and left it to the last minute and as I wanted to put some pieces in the baskets I have made for hubby’s work mates I thought I would use this quick and easy recipe that you can find on a lot of pages on the internet and also in magazines where I found it years ago (sorry to the magazine for no mention as I cannot for the life of me remember which one it was) and only uses 4 ingredients.

To make this cake you will need:

1kg diced fruit mix

2 cups of orange juice (I did read somewhere that a lady had used apricot nectar)

2 cups of self raising flour

1 of sherry (I didn’t have sherry and couldn’t find the grand marnier so I used port)

optional glazed cherries for the top

In a large mixing bowl place the fruit mix, orange juice and sherry and give it a good mix together.  Cover and let sit for about 2 to 3 hours (I gave it a bit of a stir every half hour but you don’t have to do this)

Pre heat your oven at around 120 degrees (my oven is fan forced) and line your cake tin with baking paper.  Once the fruit is all lovely and plump, sift in the 2 cups or self raising flour and mix thoroughly so that there is no lumps of flour. 

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Pour the mixture into your cake tin and if you are going to decorate your cake with glazed cherries, place them into and around the top of your cake now. 

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Bake in the oven for around an hour and a half or until golden brown.  I tested the cake after an hour and it was ready but it will depend on your oven.

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Once your cake is cooked, leave to cool then place in an air tight container for a few days before cutting.  Now we couldn’t wait (hubby that is) and had some that night and it was lovely and moist.

And there you have it your very own christmas cake.  Now for the flour I used The Healthy Baker self raising flour and for the orange juice well I wanted to try something with a few more flours so I used Golden Circle orange, carrot and ginger juice.  It’s lovely and only has a little hint of ginger.

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For decorating well I'm not a real big fan of marzipan and you can use icing but I just love my Christmas cake just the way it is.

What’s your favourite Christmas cake or dessert for Christmas?

Jennifer xx

 

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