
- Soak all dried fruits in the whiskey (overnight if possible)
-
Preheat oven to 150C/ gas to fan oven 130C
Michael’s wife Geraldine makes the most of the seasonal Christmas fruit stocked in Cosgrove’s annually from October to December.
Geraldine, a keen baker, shares her recipe below for a traditional, beautiful and simple Christmas cake (no icing required!). This cake is suitable for bakers of all levels and using the highest quality fruit, is a sure to be tasty festive treat!
250g room temperature butter (not included)
200g of light muscovado sugar
4 free-range eggs (not included)
200g of sifted plain white flour (not included)
150g of medium seedless raisins
150g medium sultanas
85g of chopped pecans
175g of dried cranberries
200g of glacé cherries (mixed colours)
100g of mixed, chopped citrus peel
2 teaspoons of mixed spice
3 (a little extra for the brave) tablespoons of whiskey (not included)
3 tablespoons of apricot jam (not included)
60g of glacé cherries
Icing sugar (not included)
Whole citrus peel cut into thin slices
60g pecan and almonds nuts (blanch if you wish)
Red ribbon
Preheat oven to 150C/ gas to fan oven 130C
3. Line an 8 inch loose bottom cake tin ~3.5” deep with greased parchment paper
4. Line the outside of the tin with brown paper
5. Cream the butter with the sugar until well mixed and soft
6. Beat in the eggs one at a time and fold in sieved flour
7. Tip in soaked dried fruit, chopped pecans and spice and mix well
8. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin
9. Flatten mixture with the back of a spoon making a slight depression in the centre to help the cake rise easily
10. Tap the tin on the worktop to settle the contents
11. Bake for 1 hour and then cover loosely with foil or brown paper and bake for 1 further hour
12. Insert a clean skewer into the centre and when it comes out clean the cake is ready
13. Leave the cake to cool with the parchment paper intact
14. When cold, remove the paper and wrap in greaseproof paper + tinfoil
15. Store in an airtight container until ready for decoration