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OK, this is a once a year epic, you have been warned. It is best made around October half term and stored until Christmas. It is stunningly moist from the apple juice, but very heavy and simply wonderful for a hungry cyclist/mountaineer. We have omitted from the orginal recipe what we don't like, so no candied peel, no currants, no marizpan, no icing... It is the volume of fruit that is important, so mix and match as you please. It is actually cheaper to buy a shop bought Christmas Cake than buy the ingredients for this cake, but I can promise you it will not taste anywhere near as good.
When we were out mountaineering at Christmas we would have a minature one available for Christmas Day lunch, dug into a snow drift...
Christmas Cake
You will need lots of time, lots of big bowls and plenty of patience. I usually pick over the fruit on a Friday night watching TV.... it helps. And if you want a minature one available, you will need to have an empty tin of sweetcorn - you know the size. It is the tin you are after, not the sweetcorn.
Ingredients
875g raisins
875g sultanas
200g glace cherries (the dark natural ones)
300g sour cherries (best ones I have found are from Sainsbury's)
100g chopped roasted hazelnuts
100g blanched whole hazelnuts
100g blanched almonds
75-100g ground almonds
175g plain wholemeal flour
175g softened butter
175g (50/50) molasses & dark brown soft sugar
2 tbsp black molasses (treacle is too sweet, so don't be tempted)
5 largish eggs
1 large or 2 small lemons – rind and juice of.
1 bottle dry apple juice (it is essential it is dry not sweet apple juice)
1 tsp mixed spices
Method
Start the day before. Pick over all of the dried fruit (875g raisins & 875g sultanas) picking out stones & stalks. Rinse the fruit briefly under boiling water and put into a large bowl, add the apple juice and cover, leave overnight, mixing up occasionally.
Cream the butter with the sugar very thoroughly. It will eventually go fluffy and golden (honest).
Slowly add the black molasses whilst whisking.
Mix the flour, mixed spices and ground almonds in another bowl and slowly stir in the butter/sugar mixture, adding the eggs one at a time with plenty of flour to prevent curdling.
Mix in the lemon juice, rind and chopped & whole hazelnuts (but not the whole almonds).
Wash the glace cherries in boiling water and chop into quarters with scissors, retaining 1 whole cherry.
Drain the fruit that was soaking overnight, add in the sour cherries & glace cherries and mix.
Now stir in the flour mixture, so that all of the fruit has a thin coating.
You need an 8” round cake tin which needs to be double lined and greased with a nut oil (do not use olive/sunflower, it will taste odd, get something like hazelnut oil).
Set the oven to 140C (275F or Gas Mark 1) and press the mixture into the tin. It will all fit, honest!
Hollow out the middle so it is about 1 inch below that of the outer edges to ensure it cooks properly; now add the blanched almonds in a spiral pattern over the top with a glace cherry in the centre.
Cook for 3½ - 5 hours (or so). Use the knife test to check the centre is cooked.
Leave in the cake tin until completely cold before removing.
Wrap in layers of greaseproof paper and then tin foil until well and truely air tight.
Store until Christmas.
(Photo's to follow, whole - once I have made it; sliced - well not until Christmas!)
When we were out mountaineering at Christmas we would have a minature one available for Christmas Day lunch, dug into a snow drift...
Christmas Cake
You will need lots of time, lots of big bowls and plenty of patience. I usually pick over the fruit on a Friday night watching TV.... it helps. And if you want a minature one available, you will need to have an empty tin of sweetcorn - you know the size. It is the tin you are after, not the sweetcorn.
Ingredients
875g raisins
875g sultanas
200g glace cherries (the dark natural ones)
300g sour cherries (best ones I have found are from Sainsbury's)
100g chopped roasted hazelnuts
100g blanched whole hazelnuts
100g blanched almonds
75-100g ground almonds
175g plain wholemeal flour
175g softened butter
175g (50/50) molasses & dark brown soft sugar
2 tbsp black molasses (treacle is too sweet, so don't be tempted)
5 largish eggs
1 large or 2 small lemons – rind and juice of.
1 bottle dry apple juice (it is essential it is dry not sweet apple juice)
1 tsp mixed spices
Method
Start the day before. Pick over all of the dried fruit (875g raisins & 875g sultanas) picking out stones & stalks. Rinse the fruit briefly under boiling water and put into a large bowl, add the apple juice and cover, leave overnight, mixing up occasionally.
Cream the butter with the sugar very thoroughly. It will eventually go fluffy and golden (honest).
Slowly add the black molasses whilst whisking.
Mix the flour, mixed spices and ground almonds in another bowl and slowly stir in the butter/sugar mixture, adding the eggs one at a time with plenty of flour to prevent curdling.
Mix in the lemon juice, rind and chopped & whole hazelnuts (but not the whole almonds).
Wash the glace cherries in boiling water and chop into quarters with scissors, retaining 1 whole cherry.
Drain the fruit that was soaking overnight, add in the sour cherries & glace cherries and mix.
Now stir in the flour mixture, so that all of the fruit has a thin coating.
You need an 8” round cake tin which needs to be double lined and greased with a nut oil (do not use olive/sunflower, it will taste odd, get something like hazelnut oil).
Set the oven to 140C (275F or Gas Mark 1) and press the mixture into the tin. It will all fit, honest!
Hollow out the middle so it is about 1 inch below that of the outer edges to ensure it cooks properly; now add the blanched almonds in a spiral pattern over the top with a glace cherry in the centre.
Cook for 3½ - 5 hours (or so). Use the knife test to check the centre is cooked.
Leave in the cake tin until completely cold before removing.
Wrap in layers of greaseproof paper and then tin foil until well and truely air tight.
Store until Christmas.
(Photo's to follow, whole - once I have made it; sliced - well not until Christmas!)
