Category: Dessert

Ingredients

• 150gm plain flour
• 1 tsp mace or mixed spice (if you can’t get it use mixture of cinnamon and ginger)
• 1 tsp nutmeg 
• 100gm beef suet (difficult to get but margarine works as well)
• 500gm sultanas, raisons, currants mix or all of 1
• 75gm brown sugar
• 1 carrot peeled and grated
• Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 75gm breadcrumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 150m1 orange juice

Sieve flour and spices, add suet (margarine) dried fruit, sugar, lemon rind, carrot and breadcrumbs

Mix well and bind with beaten eggs and orange juice.

Put into greased pudding basin, cover with greaseproof paper – then a layer of alu foil paper tied on with string. To make a lifting handle, use additional alu foil that is long enough to fit over the bottom and sides of the bowl, plus 10cm extra on either side. Fold this piece into thirds lengthwise and slide it under the bowl and up and over the sides. Place basin in saucepan half filled with water bring to boil and simmer for 6 hours with the lid on.

Cooking in the pressure cooker is much quicker – half fill with water and steam without the lid for 30 minutes, put on lid and bring to pressure, lower the pressure then cook for 1.5 hours depending on size.

Serve with custard with a tbsp brandy added

Ingredients – this makes a fairly large cake cut amounts for smaller

• 825gm sultanas, raisons, currants mix or all of 1
• 150gm glace cherries chopped
• 200gm mixed peel
• Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
• 290gm plain flour
• 1 tsp mixed spice OR ½ tsp of ginger powder, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp cinnamon
• 290gm butter / margarine mixed
• 290gm brown sugar
• 1 tbls black treacle or molasses or golden syrup
• 6 large eggs
• 1 – 2 tbls brandy (2 is better!) you can use sherry

Preparation

Line the sides of 20cm x 8cm high tin with several thicknesses of newspaper covered by same size greaseproof baking paper. Then cut a circle in newspaper and greaseproof paper for the bottom of the tin. Preparing the tin takes longer than preparing cake but is important because cake should be cooked slowly at a fairly low heat.

Sieve flour and spices

Mix dried fruit and lemon rind

Cream butter, sugar and treacle, beat in eggs then stir in flour and spices then add dried fruit stir well.

Place mixture into pre-prepared cake tin and cook at 150deg for 3 – 3½ hours. Tip: time will depend on the depth of the cake.

Allow to cool slightly then turn onto a baking wire rack. Cool completely then prick underside all over with thin skewer and pour over the brandy before storing. Christmas cakes can be stored for several months add more brandy if you are storing for 6 months.

See marzipan recipe for next stage

Ingredients

• 250gm plain flour
• 50gm marg or butter
• 50gm sugar
• 1 heaped tsp baking powder
• 50gm currant, sultanas, dried figs (optional)
• milk to mix

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and marg with fork, mix in dried fruit (or not). should be dry flaking consistency, add milk slowly until mixture sticks together not too wet. Roll out about 1.5 cm thick and cut with cookie cutter (don’t knead it’s not bread). Place on floured baking pan and cook at 180deg for 12 mins – should not be brown. Place on wire tray to cool keeping well hidden from small children. Slice in half and butter

• 220g ground almonds
• 220g icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp almond essence
• Orange juice (or orange juice + rum)

Mix almonds and sugar and egg yolk (use white of egg to brush on top of cake to make marzipan stick). Add almond essence + orange juice and rum.

Mixture should be a little sticky, knead it and smooth it onto cake with a rolling pin dusted with icing sugar to stop sticking.

Leave for 24 hours before icing the cake.

Icing: 250gm icing sugar, tbls lemon juice + enough water to make the mixture stick together – don’t make it too runny. Place on the cake and spread with a large knife soaking in boiling water. Decorate cake.

You can use other types of icing but Farmor is not a great fan of icing!!

• 200 gm butter or margarine
• 200 gm sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 lemons
• 200 gm plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Drizzling liquid – 1 dl lemon juice and 100 gm icing sugar

Beat butter and sugar together, add eggs and the finely grated peel of both lemons (only peel no juice), beat well. Add flour sieved with baking powder and salt. Put into greased a bread tin (20-25 cm) lined with baking paper. Bake at 180 deg for 50 – 60 minutes (a knife should come out clean when the cake is cooked). Cool cake for 10 minutes in the tin, then pour over, lemon juice and icing sugar mixed well before removing from tin!