Christmas cake
A traditional British Christmas cake rich with butter, Muscovado sugar, almonds and a medley of dried fruits, spiced with mixed spice, rose water and vanilla, moistened with sherry and slowly baked to a dense, festive finish.
Steps
- 1
Preheat the oven to 160C (fan 140C / gas 3). Line the base and sides of a 20 cm round, 7.5 cm deep cake tin. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until creamy and pale, scraping down the bowl halfway.
- 2
Stir in a spoonful of the flour, then stir in the beaten eggs and the rest of the flour alternately, a quarter at a time, beating well each time with a wooden spoon. Stir in the almonds.
- 3
Mix in the sherry, then add the candied peel, glace cherries, raisins, currants, pecan nuts, lemon zest, mixed spice, rose water and vanilla extract. Beat together to mix, then stir in the baking powder.
- 4
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top, making a slight dip in the centre. Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 150C (fan 130C / gas 2) and bake a further 2-2.25 hours, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- 5
Leave to cool in the tin, then remove from the tin and peel off the lining paper. When completely cold, wrap well in cling film and foil to store until ready to decorate. The cake will keep for several months.
