If you’re trying to find ways to make Christmas day easier, having food that you’ve prepared ahead of time is a great option. Not only does preparing ahead of time free up some of your precious time on the big day, but this delicious Classic Aged Christmas Cake recipe actually requires you to make it ahead of time so that it has plenty time to age and get even more delicious!
Classic Aged Christmas Cake – You’ll need:
- 1kg mixed dried fruits (use a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes or figs)
- zest and juice of 1 orange
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 150ml brandy, sherry, whisky or rum, plus extra for feeding
- 250g pack butter, softened
- 200g light soft brown sugar
- 175g plain flour
- 100g ground almonds
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 100g flaked almonds
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Put the dried fruit, zests and juice, alcohol, butter and sugar in a large saucepan set over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Tip the fruit mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 150°C. Line a deep 20cm cake tin with a double layer of baking paper, then wrap a double layer of thick paper – like newspaper – around the outside and secure with string.
Add the remaining ingredients to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Tip into your prepared tin, level the top with a spatula and bake in the centre of the oven for 2 hours.
Remove the cake from the oven, poke holes in it with a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of your chosen alcohol. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
To store, peel off the baking parchment, then wrap well in cling film. Feed the cake with 1-2 tbsp alcohol every fortnight, until you ice it. Don’t feed the cake for the final week to give the surface a chance to dry before icing.
For more creative Christmas cooking ideas check out our Pinterest page!