Although it’s not really that close to Christmas yet, it is the perfect time to start making your Christmas cake so all those yummy Christmassy flavours can soak into it. Making it THE BEST boozy Christmas cake recipe you’ll ever eat!
I normally start mine in mid October to give it the best start I possibly can. So this year I’m running a little behind. Baking the cake always puts me in such a Christmassy mood. Blasting out Christmas songs, the Christmas apron is on and yes, i’m possibly dancing around the kitchen too! The perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit!
This boozy Christmas cake recipe is one I’ve been making for about 3 years now. Every year people say just how delicious it is. I even started selling it at Christmas fairs and sold out within about 10 minutes of it opening!
Ingredients
- 500g raisins
- 350g natural glacé cherries, halved, rinsed, and thoroughly dried
- 200g pitted dates
- 150ml brandy, plus extra for feeding
- 150ml Disaronno, plus extra for feeding
- 250g un-salted butter, softened
- 250g light muscovado sugar
- 4 free-range eggs
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- 250g plain flour
- 2 tsp mixed spice
Method
- Place all the dried fruit into a large mixing bowl, pour over the brandy and disaronno and stir. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for three days, stirring daily.
2. Grease and line a 23cm/9in deep, round tin with a layer of greaseproof paper.
3. Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas
4. Add the butter, sugar, eggs and treacle into a large bowl and combine. Once you’ve beaten the mixture, add the flour and ground spice and mix well.
5. Lightly flour the soaked fruit, stir into the mixture and pour into the prepared cake tin.
6. Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 4 hours, or until firm to the touch. Check the cake after 2 hours and if it’s the perfect colour, cover with foil and continue to bake. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean once ready. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
7. When the cake has cooled, pierce the cake with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra brandy and disaronno.
Icing & Marzipan
- Wrap the cake in a layer of greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool place, feeding with more brandy and disaronno.
2. The week before you want to serve the cake you can begin covering it with marzipan and icing.
3. Brush the cake with marmalade before putting on the marzipan, this will help it to stick to the cake.
4. Then roll out your marzipan, enough to cover the cake and carefully lift it over the cake with your rolling pin.
5. Once in place, use the palms of your hands in circular motions to help ease the marzipan flat to the cake. This also helps get rid of air bubbles.
6. Then cover the cake in a thin layer of marmalade.
7. Do the same with the fondant icing as you did with the marzipan.
8. Once you’re happy with how it looks, you can begin to decorate your cake however you’d like.
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