What's Christmas without a classic Christmas cake after dinner? Delia Smith's Christmas cake recipe promises to be a classic pud on Christmas day that you can count on.
Of course, you can finish yours off with crisp white icing, but we're going to stick to Delia's simple yet effective almond topping which looks and tastes delicious.
This recipe comes from her first cookbook and is a real family recipe, combining her grandmother’s and mother’s original recipe with a few tweaks from Delia herself.
Delia Smith's Christmas cake
Takes: 4 hours to 4 hours 45 mins to cook
Ingredients
For the pre-soaking:
450g currants
175g sultanas
175g raisins
50g chopped glacé cherries
50g mixed chopped candied peel
100ml brandy
For the cake:
225g plain flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ level teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice
225g dark brown soft sugar
4 large eggs
1 dessertspoon black treacle
225g spreadable butter
50g chopped almonds (skin on)
zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
For feeding and topping:
Armagnac or brandy to 'feed' the cake
100g whole blanched almonds (only if you don’t intend to ice the cake)
Method
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Put all the fruits, in a bowl and mix them with the brandy, cover with a cloth and leave them to soak for a minimum of 12 hours. When you’re ready to cook the cake, preheat the oven to 140°C, Gas mark 1.
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Sift the flour, salt and spices into a very large roomy mixing bowl then add the sugar, eggs, treacle (warm it a little first to make it easier) and butter and beat with an electric hand whisk until everything is smooth and fluffy.
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Gradually fold in the pre-soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts and finally the grated lemon and orange zest.
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Next, using a large kitchen spoon, transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread it out evenly with the back of the spoon and, if you don’t intend to decorate the cake with marzipan and icing, lightly drop the blanched almonds in circles over the surface.
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Finally, take a double square of baking parchment with a 50p-sized hole in the centre (for extra protection during the cooking) and place this not on top of the mixture itself but on the rim of the brown paper. Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4 hours until it feels springy in the centre when lightly touched. Sometimes it can take 30–45 minutes longer than this, but in any case, don’t look at it for 4 hours.
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Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling.
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When it’s cold, ‘feed’ it by making small holes in the top and bottom with a cocktail stick and spooning in a couple of tablespoons of Armagnac or brandy, then wrap it in parchment-lined foil and store in an airtight tin. You can now ‘feed’ it at odd intervals until you need to ice or eat it.
Looking for an alternative option? Check out Mary Berry’s Christmas cake recipe.
Lorna White is a Senior Digital Writer at Yours.co.uk. She was previously a writer at Yours Magazine writing features and news stories before joining the digital team. Lorna loves the great British countryside and likes to spend her spare time out and about in her home of Nottinghamshire walking her dog, Pippin.