Christmas Cake – Traditional British UK Recipe for Xmas

Christmas cakes are a tasty tradition that help to put people in a festive mood. Christmas cake tends to be rich in taste and contains plenty of dried fruit.

This Christmas cake recipe is a traditional British recipe.

Christmas cake ingredients (metric measures):

1. 350g of self-raising flour
2. 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
3. 110g of ground almonds
4. 225g of caster sugar
5. 225g of butter
6. 4 eggs beaten with 8 tablespoons of milk (or 1/2 milk and 1/2 brandy)
7. 225g currants
8. 225g sultanas
9. 225g raisins
10. 110g half-glazed cherries
11. 110g of mixed cut peel

Christmas cake ingredients (imperial measures):

1. 12oz self-raising flour
2. 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
3. 4oz of ground almonds
4. 8oz of caster sugar
5. 8oz of butter
6. 4 eggs beaten with 8 tablespoons of milk (or 1/2 milk and 1/2 brandy)
7. 8oz currants
8. 8oz sultanas
9. 8oz raisins
10. 4oz half-glazed cherries
11. 4oz of mixed cut peel

Method:

Put the flour, ground almonds and the mixed spice through the sieve and mix together.  Add the caster sugar into the butter and mix in with the flour adding eggs and milk.

After washing the fruit put that in the mixture and stir it all together thoroughly.

The mixture then needs to be put in a 9 inch / 23cm round tin or an 8 inch / 20cm square tin after greasing it. To protect the tin put brown paper or foil 3 inches above the mixture.

Put it in the oven to bake slowly at 150 degrees C, 300 degrees F or gas mark 2 for around 4 1/2 hours.

After the cake has baked for 3 hours place some foil over the top of the cake.

The foil prevents the top of the cake burning.

To check if the cake is baked put a skewer through it.

When it comes out clean the cake has finished baking.

Alternatively, listen to the cake, if bubbling can be heard then it needs more time in the oven.

Once the cake is baked leave to cool for 1/2 hour before placing it on the cooling rack.

Once it has cooled enough put icing and marzipan over it.

Christmas cake is not the same without being covered in marzipan and icing. 

Marzipan ingredients:

Metric Measures:

1. 350g of ground almonds
2. 175g of caster sugar
3. 175g of icing sugar
4. 1 egg
5. Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Imperial Measure:

1. 12oz of ground almonds
2. 6oz of caster sugar
3. 6oz of icing sugar
4. 1 egg
5. Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Method:

Mix all of the dry ingredients together then add the lemon juice and the beaten egg.

Carry on mixing until it has a paste-like texture (or cheat and buy it ready-made from the shop).

Make the top of the cake level by trimming away bits of cake or adding extra bits of marzipan.

Coat the outside of the whole cake with lemon curd or apricot jam so that the marzipan sticks to it.

Start by cutting off 1/3 of the marzipan and rolling out the rest on a surface covered with icing sugar.

Once it has been stuck all round the cake use the remaining third to cover the top of the cake.

Make sure the marzipan is smooth all around the cake, and leave in a cool dry place for a week before putting the icing on the cake.

Royal Icing Ingredients:

Metric Measures:

1. 900g of icing sugar
2. 4 egg whites
3. 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for harder icing
4. or 2 teaspoons of glycerine for softer icing

Imperial Measures:

1. 2lbs of icing sugar
2. 4 egg whites
3. 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for harder icing
4. or 2 teaspoons of glycerine for softer icing

Method:

Begin to beat the white eggs and lemon juice lightly together.

Then sieve the icing sugar before mixing with the egg/lemon juice mixture.

Continue adding icing sugar until the icing is stiff.

Place the cake on to a cake board and then smooth the icing over the top of it.

It is best to spread the icing using a palette knife or a similarly broad-bladed knife.

To make it spread better, dip the knife into a bowl of warm water.

Be sure to add decorations before the icing sets.

Learn More With the Help of Video

Conclusion

If you are making a cake for Christmas and you have not gone for this British cake then you are missing out on the most popular cake of all time.

This recipe will also help all those familiar with the cake to use as a reference.

When you have followed this recipe and made the cake, do tell me how it went in the comments section below.

Word Cloud for Christmas Cake

The following is a collection of the most used terms in this article on Christmas Cake. This should help in recalling related terms as used in this article at a later stage for you.

References

1. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/make-mature-christmas-cake
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cake
3. https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/november-is-the-time-to-make-your-christmas-cake/