Whether you love it or hate it, Christmas lunch isn’t the same without a classic Christmas cake.
StyleNest have teamed up with Contemporary Cake Designs to bring you some baking top tips on how best to create a classic Christmas cake without any baking disasters.
The husband and wife duo behind the Contemporary Cake Designs based in Cheltenham know a thing or two about sugar craft. With experience from Harrods, The Ivy and the Hilton, the Contemporary Cake Designs have earned a reputable clientele amongst the likes of Madonna, Paul McCartney and 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan.
A Great British Tradition, the Christmas cake originated as plum porridge. People used to eat the porridge on Christmas Eve, using it to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the porridge mixture, and eventually it turned into Christmas pudding. In the 16th century, the mixture evolved replacing oatmeal with butter, wheat flour and eggs. This helped to bind the mixture together to become a boiled plum cake.
Richer families that had ovens began baking fruit cakes with marzipan, and almond sugar paste, for Easter. For Christmas, they made a similar cake using seasonal dried fruit and spices. The spices represented the exotic eastern spices brought by the Wise Men. This cake became known as Christmas cake.
There is no golden rule for Christmas cake as they are generally variations from the classic fruitcake. Made in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles be it, plain, glazed, dusted or frosted a Christmas cake is fun and easy to make.
Step 1.
Soak the dried fruit overnight in a little brandy. Use one dessert spoon for each pound of fruit.
Step 2.
Take care when lining the tin. Fit the greaseproof into the corners carefully for a good shape.
Step 3.
Bake your cake at a low temperature until knife comes out clean.
Step 4.
When the cake is cold sprinkle over more brandy.
Step 5.
Wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and foil, and store in a cool dry place. If you like, feed again, a week later, with the brandy
Step 6.
Bake your Christmas cake 4 to 6 weeks beforehand (the earlier the better) this allows plenty of time for “feeding” – this is where you pour a small amount of brandy, sherry or whisky into holes in the cake every week until Christmas. It is advisable to keep the cake upside down in an airtight container during this process. The longer you are able to keep it after cooking the moister the cake will become.
Step 7.
Trim the top of the cake to become flat and turn it over before covering
Step 8.
Use boiled apricot jam to coat the cake and allow marzipan to stick well. This will also act as a good preservative for the cake
Step 9.
Royal icing is easier to cut, so beat icing until light and fluffy. Add one teaspoon of glycerine to each 1lb(500g) of icing. Use dried egg white-based powder if you want to avoid raw egg white.
Step 10.
Use roll out icing for a quicker easier cake covering. Roll out the icing on a scattering of sugar. Brush marzipanned cake with a little brandy, lay over the rolled out icing. Smooth the top and sides of the cake with your hands or a special smoother.
Top Tip. If you are superstitious, do not cut the cake before dawn on Christmas Eve, during Victorian times it was considered unlucky.
For further details, please visit www.contemporarycakedesigns.com
Click here to see StyleNest’s roundup of the best Christmas party food recipes.