Marguerite Patten’s Rich Christmas Cake

The cake tin - lined with both greaseproof & brown paper (above). Preparing the tin is one of the most important parts of the process, as it prevents your cake from burning

The cake batter (above), in the prepared tin, just about ready to go into the oven

The Christmas cake once it is removed from the oven after it's long, slow baking process

Because we cannot buy Christmas cake here, I always make my own. This is a well known recipe of Marguerite Patten’s and although I feel it is always best to make it several weeks before you plan to eat it (I make mine around 5 – 6 weeks beforehand), the beauty of this recipe is that it can also just as easily be made a few days before Christmas, and it still tastes great !

Each week I unwrap my Christmas cake, prick it all over with a toothpick and then pour a few liberal tablespoons of brandy all over it (you can do it on both sides if you like). This helps to not only keep the cake moist, but to develop the richness of the flavours, too.

Several years ago, I decided to inject the syringe with brandy instead of simply pouring tablespoons of brandy over it – the first time I did this, there was complete silence from Justin (who was standing behind me in the kitchen, drying dishes at the time) as he watched me, awestruck and quite convinced that Mama had finally gone completely crazy ! ‘Mama ?’ he asked me ever so politely in Swahili, ‘Excuse me, but why are you giving that cake and injection ? Is it sick, or …. what is the reason for this ?” Well of course after explaining to him what I was doing he thought it quite funny too, although I must say that since that day I’ve rather stuck to the tablespoon method as less questions are asked when I do so !

(I will ice this cake quite close to Christmas day, and will do another blog post on it then. My family are not too fond of marzipan, so I use an alternative method to ice my cake.)

Marguerite Patten’s Rich Christmas Cake

350 gm plain white Flour
1 tsp ground Cinnamon (I made mine slightly heaped)
1 tsp mixed Spice (I made mine slightly heaped)
115 gm candied Peel, chopped
900 gm mixed dried Fruit (preferably 450 gm Currants, 225 gm Sultanas, 225 gm seedless Raisins)
50 – 115 gm blanched Almonds, chopped (I used 115 gm salted Cashew nuts – all I could find !)
115 gm red glace Cherries, chopped
4 large Eggs, whisked
4 tbsp Sherry or Brandy or Milk (I used 5 tbsp Brandy)
225 gm Butter (I used Margarine as no butter available here right now !)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
finely grated zest of 1 orange (optional – I didn’t use as I didn’t have any)
225 gm Sugar, preferably dark moist brown sugar (I used plain brown sugar)
1 level tbsp Black Treacle or Golden Syrup (I used Treacle)

I used a 23 cm round cake tin for this (you could use a 20 cm square cake tin if you prefer a square cake). It is very important to prepare your tin carefully as the cake cooks for a long time & due to the high sugar/fruit content, you don’t want it to burn as the whole flavour cake will be ruined !

First I thickly grease the ‘naked’ cake tin with margarine (bottom & sides). Then I cut greaseproof paper to size – 2 discs for the bottom of the tin & 2 strips for the insides. I grease in between each disk/strip, finishing off with a layer of margarine on the outside of the paper (the inside part which the cake batter will be poured into). Then I cut a long strip of brown paper to wrap around the outside of the cake tin, 2 cm higher than the edge of the cake tin. This I tie securely to the tin with string.

Now for the mixing – don’t worry as this cake does not contain any raising agents (baking powder, baking soda etc) as this is how it should be -:

Sift together the flour, cinnamon & mixed spice. Mix together the candied peel, dried fruits, almonds and cherries (if these are slightly sticky, toss them lightly in some flour). Whisk the eggs with the sherry/brandy/rum or milk (whichever one you’ve opted to use). Cream the butter together with the lemon and orange zest (if using), sugar and treacle (or golden syrup) until soft. (Be careful not to over beat the batter, as this type of cake does not need much aerating.)

Gradually blend in the egg mixture and sifted dry ingredients. Stir in all the fruit. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth it flat on top, then press the top with slightly damp knuckles, as this helps to keep the cake moist and flat.

Bake in the centre of an oven pre heated to 160’C/325’F/Gas Mark 3 one hour, then lower the heat to 150’C/300F/Gas Mark 2 for another +_ 2 ½ hours. (Baking times for rich fruit cakes like this vary considerably according to your particular oven, so test it carefully.)

To test the cake: first press firmly on top - there should be no impression - then check to see if the cake has shrunk away from the sides of the tin. If it has, remove from the oven & listen carefully. A rich fruit cake that is not quite cooked gives a definite humming noise, in which case return it to the oven for a short time and test again. Cool the cake in the baking tin, when completely cold turn it out carefully, wrap in foil and store in an airtight tin.

(I usually make this cake around a month or so before Christmas, & once a week I remove it from the foil, prick it all over with a toothpick, & pour a few tablespoons of brandy over it before wrapping it up & returning it to the tin again. This helps to keep the cake moist & the brandy seems to mature it & give it an even deeper/richer flavour. You don’t have to do this however, as the cake tastes just as nice without the extra brandy ‘baths’ !)