Christmas Cake Spices
Christmas cake has its roots in the Middle Ages, from a dish called plum porridge. The oats in plum porridge were later replaced by butter, flour and eggs, and eventually, dried fruit and spices were added (symbolic of the exotic spices brought by the wise men), resulting in the brandy-soaked, marzipan-wrapped festive treat that we're familiar with today!
Christmas cake has its roots in the Middle Ages, from a dish called plum porridge. The oats in plum porridge were later replaced by butter, flour and eggs, and eventually, dried fruit and spices were added (symbolic of the exotic spices brought by the wise men), resulting in the brandy-soaked, marzipan-wrapped festive treat that we're familiar with today!
CHRISTMAS CAKE SPICES (1 portion = 2 tbsp): coriander, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, bitter orange, nutmeg, cassia, cloves, green cardamon
May contain CELERY, MUSTARD and SESAME. Allergens are listed in CAPITALS
Christmas Cake Recipe:
PREP 5 mins + soaking overnight
COOK 3 hrs 30 mins
HEAT 1
Serves 4
You Need:
225g butter plus extra for greasing - softened
4 large eggs
900g mix of sultanas, raisins and currants
100g glacé cherries
100g mixed peel
80g whole blanched almonds
200g soft dark brown sugar
300g plain flour
200ml brandy, sherry or marsala wine plus extra for 'feeding' the cake
Marzipan and fondant icing to cover the cake
1 portion of CHRISTMAS CAKE SPICES
Method:
Soak the dried fruit, glacé cherries and mixed peel in 50ml brandy overnight
The next day, preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3 then grease and line a 9 inch cake tin with baking parchment
Beat the butter with the sugar until paler in colour and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing until well combined
Fold in the flour, almonds, CHRISTMAS CAKE SPICES and a pinch of salt very gently to keep it light and airy
Stir in the soaked fruit until evenly distributed
Scoop the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour, then turn the heat down to 150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for a further 1 1⁄2 hours or until the top is firm and a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean
Leave to cool then remove from the tin and spoon over 75ml brandy. Once absorbed, turn upside down and spoon over the remaining 75ml brandy
‘Feed’ the cake by spooning over a couple of tbsps of alcohol once a week right up until Christmas (keep it covered with baking parchment and tinfoil so it doesn’t dry out)
Allow the cake a few days without any additional brandy before turning right side up and decorating with marzipan and icing
You can find our stackable tins here
You can read all about our efforts to reduce plastic waste in our packaging blog here
Product Rating (2):
This will be my fourth year of using this mix for my Christmas cake - amazing flavour and delicious!
This was the best Christmas cake I have made and everyone loved it. I used the recipe and the spices from The Spicery. I’ve given the rating a 4 and not a 5 out of 5 because I was expecting a more ‘spicy’’ flavour and would have been happy to use a stronger blend of spices.
Thanks for your feedback, John - sorry that it wasn't quite spicy enough to earn full marks, but we're so pleased to hear that it still got great reviews from everyone!
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Great to hear that spices have become something of a Christmas tradition for you, Kate! Happy spicing!