Buy British Christmas Cake
These cakes are so popular in England, that a not-so-great sales year lamented only $40M in sales (2015)! Another amazing thing about the Traditional British Christmas Cake is that it is usually made several months in advance.
buy british christmas cake
Christmas Cake is a rich, dense fruit cake filled with warm baking spices and soaked fruit (typically soaked in sherry, brandy, or rum) including currants (Zante currants or Corinth raisins), sultanas (golden raisins), and raisins. It is an English tradition to serve this cake during the holidays.
When the wealthier English families began baking in ovens, they would make this fruit cake and coat it with marzipan. The spices were exotic and meant to represent the eastern spices gifted by the Wise Men to Christ.
Quick Version! Love the classic version but did you forget to get it started early? I've included my easy quick version notes here to make your Christmas cake on-demand or last-minute!
If you made your Christmas cake using fruit juice and/or tea for the soaking, you need to store it more carefully than a liquor-soaked version. If stored at room temperature, the cake should be eaten or discarded within 3 days of serving.
If refrigerated, the Christmas cake will store for up to a week in an airtight container. Or freeze your remaining cake (tightly wrapped as noted in the freezing section above) and store it for up to 6 months.
after you bake the cake and cool it - after you feed it do you refrigerate it until the next feed ? also when you put the marzipan do you refrigerate it or leave it out to dry out - and the same for the royal icing do you leave it out to dry once you apply it, please do let me know, thanks
I do everything at room temperature (in a tin, and preferably left in a pantry or somewhere with a stable temperature) until the Christmas cake is sliced into and served. After that, I keep it in the fridge. Thanks for asking and happy holidays!!
Great question (and I can't believe I forgot to add it!). You should 'feed' your Christmas cake by brushing on 1-2 tablespoons of Brandy every two weeks (or each fortnight). Unwrap for feeding then seal securely again when done. You can repeat the feeding process up until 3-4 days before decorating it for Christmas. Thanks for asking!
You need a very deep round cake pan for this recipe. Nana used an 8 inch (20 cm) pan, but I have used a 10 inch pan with great success. Provided the cake pan is at least 2 inches (6 to 7 cm) deep, it should be fine. (The baking time may be slightly reduced as the cake is not as thick.) If you can find a pan that has a loose bottom it really is much easier to get the cake out. This is the pan I use.
Nana originally covered the cake with marzipan and then frosted it with royal icing. You will see the recipe for royal icing below. However in latter years, she used ready to roll fondant, and I now do the same.
As I mentioned above, Nana originally covered the cake with marzipan and then frosted it with royal icing. However in latter years, she used ready to roll fondant, and I now do the same. It takes a lot less time and I love the finish.
Thank you so much, April. it tells a lot about you as a person replying so patiently to comments. I think I will add a bit of both in one cake and bake another without. Plenty of time during these strange times to be experimenting at my favourite hobby. The smell of Cinamon always brings back childhood memories of Christmas. I really wish you and yours a happy Christmas April and thankyou so much. Bless you. JJ
I am also wondering about the dried fruit. I have sultana raisins but not the darker Sunkist style of raisin. I have seen some Xmas cake recipes with a few ounces of chopped dates so could I use dates instead of the dark raisins, do you think?
Anyway, the cake turned out well as far as the baking is concerned but, as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The cake cutting might happen either in early January or else Christmas 2021 so it will be a while before I find out.
I made this cake last year, being totally faithful to the recipe with the exception of using brandy rather than sherry or rum suggested. It turned out so well, and I got so many compliments, even from people who traditionally do not like Christmas cake.
Thank you so much for letting me know, Delbert! I am so glad you got such good results from the recipe and especially that you have made it again. That is a wonderful compliment! Thank you again! I hope you and yours enjoy the cake even more than last year ?
Hi April hope you are well. I made your cake 3 times last year and we love it so much just made it again yesterday. I commented how wonderful it is last year my son wanted it for his birthday cake in the summer. We love the icing love it all thanks again
Hi Wendy, I am well, thank you so much! I hope you are too. Thank you for your very kind comment and the compliments on this recipe! I think there is no truer compliment on a recipe than someone making it multiple times, and no truer compliment on a cake than someone requesting it for their birthday! You have made my day, and I know Nana would have been pleased as well ? Thank you!
April I am glad you are well. I am well Thank you . looking forward to the holidays eating the cake again . So glad you love that we love your cake .Nana must have been a great lady it is so wonderful to have family traditions to treasure. I must try some of your other recipes soon.
The recipes for these two traditional holiday baked goods can be very similar. (And then there's Christmas pudding, which confuses, too.) Christmas cake and fruitcake often refer to the same thing: a cake with lots of candied dried fruits in them, a spicy-sweet flavor profile, and the presence of an alcohol such as rum. However, the American version of fruitcake often differs significantly from British Christmas cake, which is typically a moist, dense fruitcake draped in fondant and often decorated festively for the holiday season. American fruitcake is often maligned because it's often associated with the mass-produced types that line grocery store shelves; homemade fruitcake is far superior.
Christmas cakes have been an English tradition for over a hundred years. They originated from Christmas pudding, and are made in many different textures, flavors, and styles. No matter which type of cake you prefer, there is a Christmas cake for you. Search our assortment of traditional British Christmas cakes. They make great gifts for far-away friends and relatives. Bring a little tradition into your house with a delicious cake the whole family will love.
While all cakes are made with the sweet love intended for the family, the Christmas cake goes even beyond that. Serving this seasonal cake is not only to celebrate the closeness among the family members but also to commemorate an important aspect of religion or to practice a tradition that had been rejoiced for centuries. Christmas cakes are best to make at the start of autumn or two to three months before Christmas, giving them time to mature and give out the most craved flavors from the much-awaited dessert of the Holiday season.
It takes two to four hours to make a luscious Christmas cake, and this quick and easy recipe helps you to create the merriest dessert cake that you can enjoy with your loved ones on Christmas Eve. Be sure to prepare all the necessary ingredients.
First, heat a fan oven to 150C or 130C if you are using a Gas 3 oven. Cover a 20cm loose-bottomed round cake tin with baking parchment paper. Whip the 200g softened butter and 200g dark brown sugar until you achieve a puffed-up consistency, then put two tablespoons out of the 225 grams of flour and four medium eggs into the mixture. Beat them well. Separate the solid parts of the remaining flour with a sieve as you add in it the mixture placed in the cake tin. Mix one kilogram of dried fruit and transfer it into the tin.
Enclose the top of the cake tin using lightly oiled baking parchment and bake for two hours and 30 minutes. Once the time has elapsed, remove the top parchment and bake for another 30 minutes. To check if it is cooked, insert a metal skewer into the center of the cake. Your cake is baked if you pull out a clean metal rod, and if does not, place the cake back in the oven for another 10 more minutes then recheck.
After baking, let the cake tin cool down for about 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the container and let it rest on a wire rack until it is cold. Decorate your Christmas cake with icing, marzipan, or powdered sugar.
It is as simple as ABC! Bake more of these delectable treats to spread love and joy on Christmas Day! Not a fan of baking? Our Holiday cake products are to your rescue! English Tea Store's Christmas products will surely help you with your Yuletide gift item needs.
Joyful occasions, like Christmas, are always filled with brightly colored decorations, and having a vibrant table setup is not excluded. Families acknowledge celebration with the sweet bonding of members over a delicious meal and mouthwatering desserts. Of course, the Christmas tradition is never the same without the Christmas cake at the banquet. This heavenly confection has different variations that may be baked with or without an alcoholic blend. There are three types of Christmas Cakes: Shortened and unshortened or chiffon.
Shortened cakes, or the traditional creamed cakes, are most commonly served on momentous occasions such as birthdays, weddings, and the Christmas season. These cakes have soft and smooth crumbs with a moist texture and are baked with butter, margarine, and shortening. The fruit cake, Scottish Whisky Dundee, and traditional English Christmas cake are examples of this type.
Unshortened cakes, also known as foam cakes, are large in volume and have a spongy interior. It bears no fats as it does not contain raising agents to achieve its fluffy texture. These cakes are raised using leavening by air or by whisking the egg whites to produce enough air to make foam. The Yule Log cake is a perfect representation of an unshortened Christmas cake. 041b061a72