A traditional English Christmas cake or British Christmas cake is made several months in advance. It is a rich, dense fruit cake filled with warm spices and soaked fruits (soaked in brandy, rum or wine) including currants, raisins, sultanas etc.
Ingredients
1. Maida (flour) – 200 gm
2. Cocoa powder – 2 tsp (optional)
3. Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp
4. Nutmeg powder – 1 tsp
5. Baking powder – 1 tsp
6. Baking soda – 2 pinches
7. Almond flour – ½ cup
8. Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
9. Brown sugar – 150 gm
10. Unsalted butter – 200 gm
11. Eggs – 4
12. Soaked dry fruits strained – 2 cups
13. Caraway seeds crushed (shah jeera) – 1 tsp
14. Orange juice – ¼ cup
15. Orange marmalade – 2 Tbsp
16. Orange zest – 1 Tbsp
17. Lemon zest – 1 tsp
18. Candied ginger or dry ginger powder – 1 tsp
19. Salt
20. Rum or brandy or wine for feeding cake
For Caramel
1. Sugar – ½ cup
2. Hot water – ¼ cup
Preparation
For caramel
1. Heat ½ cup sugar in a pan till it changes to golden colour. Reduce the flame and let it boil till dark brown. Keep rotating the pan in between.
2. Add ¼ cup hot water slowly. Boil till caramel melts.
3. Switch off the flame and add the strained dry fruits.
4. Heat the mixture in pan and reduce the flame to low and let it boil for 3-4 minutes stirring in between.
5. Remove from fire and strain the fruits and keep it aside.
For cake
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees for 10 minutes.
2. Line a pan (including its sides) with a double layer of butter paper or parchment paper.
3. Combine maida with spices, baking powder, baking soda, salt and almond flour. Keep aside.
4. In a bowl beat the butter and add sugar powder and beat till it becomes creamy and fluffy.
5. Add vanilla essence and eggs one by one beating continuously.
6. Add the strained caramel, orange juice, orange marmalade, crushed caraway seeds (shah jeera), zests and beat until combined well.
7. Mix the strained fruits and candied ginger with the maida mix and fold into the batter.
8. Transfer to the baking pan and garnish with dry fruits or nuts.
9. Bake for about 80-90 minutes or till the cake is done.
10. Remove from the oven and brush with brandy, rum or wine.
11. Cool the cake and poke holes in the cake with a fine skewer throughout the cake surface to feed the alcohol.
12. Wrap the cake with a plastic foil or aluminium foil or butter paper and store.
13. Feed the cake with alcohol once in a week or two.
Tips
1. Toasted and chopped nuts (cashews, almonds etc) can be added with the soaked fruits.
2. Adding more chopped prunes (dried plums) gives dark colour to the cake.
3. If the sugar is of small crystals, then no need to powder it.