Last minute Christmas Cake

So I am calling this my last minute christmas cake. This is not a tried and tested method as it is currently in the oven, only time will tell is this recipe works. Quite frankly it’s been a horrible year and to escape the feeling of dread, we’ve been finding light where we can and some of that has been by not going Christmas crazy and giving ourselves deadlines to miss. This includes the Christmas cake which would usually be started much earlier to get as much alcohol into it as possible. Below is what I have cobbled together today to make a cake – see really last minute. If it is any good, then I have a recipe for future years and never have to feel guilty about starting the cake late.

Ingredients

Fruity mix

• 250g sultanas
• 250 g currents
• 250g raisins
• Glace cherries 1 tub (washed to take off excess syrup, plus a couple dished out for a midday snack
• mixed peel (some – definitely less than half a tub

Altogether this was about 1kg of fruity stuff

Some ml of Leftover booze from around the house (this year a mixture of Teachers whisky miniature and leftover Brandy)

Cake

• 250g butter
• 225g soft brown sugar (mixture of light and brown due to whatever is in the cupboard and you hope still in date)
• 2tbspn treacle (in the least messiest way to add it
• 4 eggs (would have been 5, but apparently the cat likes egg so started attacking the box and now only 6 are left and 2 are needed for yorkshire puddings on Christmas day)
• 2-3tspn mixed spice (can you have too much mixed spice in a Christmas cake?)
• 290g Plain Flour

Fruity mix

Add all the fruit together into a container, pour on alcohol. Add lid and shake around. Allow some time for alcohol to soak into fruit, probably would be best overnight, but not going to enforce that amount of planning.

Cake

Cream butter and sugar together – I use a mixer and this is the one step I take longer on – go full speed when you can and get it as light and fluffy as you can get it.

Now add the treacle and mix again

Time for the eggs, I usually keep the mixer spinning around and add them one by one

Next add heaps of mixed spice and the flour, mix again – slower speed this time until flour all incorporated. At this point you can look at the mixture and agree it probably needs an extra egg, but are hopeful that the alcoholic fruit will loosen the mixture a little.

Add the alcoholic fruit, including any extra juice – we need the extra liquid. Mix again – if your mixer can cope – probably needs a bit of handmixing at this point.

Rapidly remember to pre-heat oven, really low heat about 110-120. Line your cake tin (again see lack of preparation). Heap heavy cake mixture into tin (I think mine is about 8in). Have some concerns over weight of cake and bung it in the oven. Expecting it to take 3-4 hours to cook, will probably check two thirds/three quarters into cooking time – whenever the christmas cake smell hits the living room – to check it’s not burning /is actually cooking.

Fingers are crossed that this works well. This still leaves icing to do and definitely don’t have apricot jam so should be interesting to see how that works this year.