Christmas Christmas was always a magical time in our house. Each year Mam would add to the decoration collection and, once transformed, our cosy living room was as close to Santa’s grotto as you could get this side of the North Pole. I loved waking on Christmas morning to a soundtrack of festive tunes by the Rat Pack, and running through the sea of colourful balloons Santa had littered the floor with to get to my new toys. As I grew older I looked forward each day to rounding the corner from school or work to see the fuzzy glow of a million fairy lights shining from our window. Well, maybe not quite a million, but we do go all out when it comes to sparkly, twinkly lights. But the thing that continues to hold the most power over me in the festive season is the aroma of Christmas baking. If I close my eyes and breathe in those wonderful scents I am instantly transported back through the years, standing in the family home, listening to my mam sing as she baked the flavours of the season into cake after cake.
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Mam’s Christmas CAKE
Christmas cake day was always a big day in our house. When it rolled around I knew that the main event wasn’t too far off. Mam would say, ‘I suppose I had better make a start on these cakes then.’ It always sounded like such a chore for her and it probably was, given that she baked for others too. The most monotonous task was always left to my sister and me: removing the teeny tiny stalks from the dried fruit. Every single solitary currant, raisin and sultana had to be inspected and de-stalked. We didn’t have the luxury of ‘prepared’ fruit back then, or if we did it was deemed too expensive when you had captive assistants to do the work for you. I’m pretty sure tasking two children with such a job was in breach of some human right, but sure we sat quietly, cramped around the table and did it while Mam busied herself lining tins, measuring and weighing. I loved bedtime on the nights that the cakes were baked. Their wonderful aroma inevitably invaded every inch of the house, and my bunk bed did not escape. I still love that smell when I climb into my bed now, having spent the day in the kitchen baking up a little bit of Christmas magic. This recipe makes two cakes. By all means feel free to halve the ingredients if you just want to make one cake, but sure when you are going to the effort of baking you may as well make two and surprise someone with a lovely home-made gift.
Ingredients
115g crystallised/stem ginger,
375g currants
finely chopped
375g raisins
Zest of 2 lemons
375g sultanas
Zest of 1 orange
250g dried apricots, roughly chopped
150g chopped almonds
in 1cm pieces
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
100g dried cranberries
100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
200ml warm (not hot) tea
350g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
200ml brandy
350g dark brown sugar
425g plain flour
2 tbsp honey
1½ level tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp black treacle
½ level tsp ground nutmeg
7 large eggs, at room temperature
75g ground almonds
2 tbsp brandy for drizzling
150g glacé cherries, quartered
Additional brandy to ‘feed’ the cake
150g mixed peel
(optional)
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Method • Place the currants, raisins, sultanas, apricots and cranberries into a large bowl and give them a little mix around with your hands. Pour over the warm tea and the brandy and stir with a wooden spoon to ensure all of the fruit has been coated in some liquid. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow to sit for at least an hour but preferably overnight, or even for a few days. Stir occasionally to ensure that all of the fruit soaks up some of the gorgeous boozy liquid. This will leave you with lovely plump fruit for the cake mixture. • Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Grease and line two 25cm/10in round or 20cm/8in square cake tins with a double layer of parchment paper. • Sift the flour, mixed spice and nutmeg into a large bowl – this is a very big mixture so be sure to use the largest bowl that you have. Add in the ground almonds and give it all a little mix. Add the glacé cherries, mixed peel, ginger and zests and toss in the flour mixture to coat. This will stop them from sinking to the bottom of the cake as it bakes. • Add all the chopped nuts and mix evenly through the flour mixture, then mix in the fruit and any remaining soaking liquid. • Add the remaining ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. • Divide the mixture between the two prepared cake tins. Place the tins onto a baking sheet – this just makes it easier to get the cake in and out of the oven once you have wrapped the outside of the tin. • Take a sheet of brown paper and cut a piece that is long enough to wrap the whole way around the cake tin with a little bit of an overlap and tall enough that when you fold it in half lengthways, then fold in half lengthways again, and then one last time, the edge is still a little above the edge of the tin. Wrap it around the outside of the cake tin and secure with some twine. This is to insulate the sides of the cake and prevent them from burning as it is in the oven for a long time. If you don’t have any brown paper to hand some sheets of newspaper will do the same job. • Place in the preheated oven. Check after 2 hours and, if necessary, cover the top with a double layer of greaseproof paper with a roughly 2cm hole cut out of the centre – this
allows the steam to escape while stopping the top from browning too much or burning. Bake for a further hour and then check with a skewer inserted into the centre. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is done. If it needs longer, return it to the oven, checking at intervals of 15 minutes. • Once baked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin overnight, or at least for a few hours, until completely cool. Remove from the tin and pierce all over with a skewer and drizzle with some brandy. Remove the parchment paper it was baked in and wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper followed by a double layer of tinfoil and store in a cool, dry place. You can ‘feed’ with alcohol every couple of weeks if you wish by simply unwrapping and drizzling with another 2 tablespoons of brandy. • Before serving the cake, cover with marzipan and icing if you wish. You can either make your own icing or buy it ready-made.
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The bread needs to be slightly stale to make the breadcrumbs, but if you have forgotten to buy it in advance you can pop fresh bread into the oven on a low heat, approximately 100°C, for 15–20 minutes to dry it out and then leave it to cool completely. It is important that there is no moisture in the bread to prevent mould forming.
Mam’s Christmas PUDDING
Once the Christmas pudding had been mixed up the dark mixture would be left to sit overnight in Mam’s large mixing bowl. Covered with a tea towel and with the handle of a wooden spoon sticking out, it would wait on the telephone seat, out of the way until Mam was ready to cook the puddings. Sometimes the mixture would sit for slightly longer to facilitate a vital step in the process. You see a Christmas pudding should not be cooked until everyone living in the house has made a wish on it. This involves stirring the wooden spoon through the mixture three times in the direction of your heart (clockwise). If someone was missing, the mixture would just have to wait until everyone was home. This is a tradition that I have kept up and I have never cooked the Christmas pudding without both myself and Jay making a wish first. This mixture makes two puddings.
Ingredients 175g self-raising flour
125g mixed cut peel
1 tsp mixed spice
125g glacé cherries, halved
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g almonds, blanched and chopped
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Zest of 1 orange
225g white breadcrumbs
Zest of 1 lemon
350g dark brown sugar
225g unsalted butter, melted
450g currants
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
225g raisins
2 tbsp brandy
225g sultanas
275ml Guinness or other stout
Method • Sieve the flour and spices into a large bowl. • Add the breadcrumbs, sugar, currants, raisins, sultanas and peel and toss gently in the flour to ensure an even distribution. Follow with the glacé cherries, almonds, lemon and orange zest and mix thoroughly. • Beat the melted butter, beaten egg and brandy together in a small bowl. • Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and then pour in the melted butter mixture. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
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• Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to stand overnight to thicken. • The next day add the Guinness and mix thoroughly again. It’s at this stage you make your wish. • Grease two 2 pint/1.1 litre pudding bowls. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared bowls. Cover each bowl with a double layer of greased parchment paper, making sure that it is greased side down. • Place a layer of tinfoil over the parchment paper. Secure with twine or a large elastic band. Pull the parchment paper and tinfoil tight across the top of the bowl and trim if you like. • Place the lid firmly on the bowl, if it has one. Tie some twine around the bowl, as if tying up a parcel, and secure on top of the bowl with a loop to make it easier to lift the bowl from the pot when cooked. • Place a small clean cloth in the bottom of a large pot and sit an upturned saucer on top. The cloth stops the saucer moving around with the simmering water and making noise. Sit the pudding bowl on top of the saucer and pour boiling water into the pot until it comes halfway up the sides of the bowl. • Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and cook over a medium heat for 6 hours. Check occasionally to ensure the level of the water hasn’t dropped and top up if needed. Repeat this cooking process for the second pudding. • When the puddings are cooked, remove carefully from the pot and allow to cool completely. • Once cooled remove the damp papers and cover with double greaseproof paper, secure with twine and store in a cool dry place. The pudding will keep for months once sealed. • We always serve our pudding cold, sliced and topped with custard or brandy cream. If you would like to serve it warm return to the pot as per the instructions above and set over a medium heat for 1 hour, or alternatively, if you don’t want to reheat the whole pudding, cut it into slices and heat these individually in the microwave.