Christmas Cake by Suzanne Thorp, The Frostery

Mid November is the ideal time to make your Christmas Cake, allowing you a few weeks to feed it so it is nicely matured in time for Christmas. Best eaten with a chunk of crumbly Lancashire Cheese.

Difficulty

Medium

Time

200 min

Author

Suzanne Thorp

Ingredients

Servings

10

Makes

1 cake

For the stock syrup

  • 284 ml water, 1/2 pint

  • 225 g caster sugar

  • 75 ml rum

  • 75 ml cream sherry

For a 9” round cake

  • 450 g sultanas

  • 350 g raisins

  • 350 g currants

  • 50 g chopped walnuts

  • 220 g glacé cherries, halved

  • 60 g candied peel, finely chopped

  • 300 g unsalted butter

  • 300 g dark muscovado sugar

  • 1 Tbsp black treacle

  • 5 eggs, beaten

  • 450 g plain flour

  • 1 pinch salt

  • 1 tsp mixed spice

  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Utensils

Greaseproof paper, Round tin 23 cm (9"), Spiral Dough Tool, K-Beater

Instructions

Step 1

Make a stock syrup by boiling the caster sugar and water together for 5 minutes and once cool add the rum and sherry.

Step 2

Use approximately half the syrup to soak the dried fruits, nuts, cherries and peel for a minimum of 24 hours or up to a week in the fridge, stirring every day so the fruit absorbs the syrup.

Step 3

Keep the remaining syrup in the fridge for feeding the cake over the coming weeks.

Step 4

Line the base and sides of a 9 inch round tin with greaseproof paper, a little higher than the rim of the tin.

Step 5

Beat the butter and muscovado sugar together until well mixed and lighter in colour.

Step 6

Add the treacle and mix well.

Step 7

Slowly add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition.

Step 8

If the mixture starts to curdle when you add the eggs, add a tablespoon of the flour.

Step 9

Sieve together the flour, salt and spices and fold into the mix.

Step 10

Add the soaked fruits and stir so the fruit is evenly distributed through the mix, but don’t over mix.

Step 11

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the mix.

Step 12

Bake at 140 C/gas mark 1 for 4 - 4 3/4 hours until cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Step 13

Allow to cool in the tin, then pierce the cake at intervals with a skewer and feed with a little of the reserved stock syrup.

Step 14

Wrap in foil and store in a cool dry place.

Step 15

Feed the cake weekly in the run up to Christmas