Easiest Way to Cook Perfect Christmas Cake

Christmas Cake.

You can cook Christmas Cake using 17 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Christmas Cake

1. You need 8 oz of butter.
2. You need 8 oz of dark soft brown sugar.
3. Prepare 4 of eggs.
4. You need 8 oz of plain flour, sifted.
5. It's 1 teaspoon of allspice.
6. It's 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
7. Prepare 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
8. Prepare 2 tablespoons of black treacle.
9. It's 1 tablespoon of lemon or orange juice.
10. Prepare 8 oz of seedless raisins.
11. You need 12 oz of currants.
12. You need 8 oz of sultanas.
13. It's 4 oz of cut mixed peel.
14. You need 3 oz of glace cherries, quartered, washed and dried.
15. Prepare of grated rind of 1 lemon.
16. It's of grated rind of 1 small orange.
17. Prepare 6-8 tablespoons of brandy (divided).

Christmas Cake instructions

1. In a large bowl, combine the raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, glace cherries and grated lemon and orange rind. Add 3-4 tablespoons brandy, stir well and leave to soak..
2. Preheat the oven to 300 F..
3. Grease and line an 8 inch round or 7 inch square deep cake tin with greased greaseproof paper..
4. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, folding in a tablespoon of flour after each addition..
5. Sift the remaining flour with spices and fold into the creamed mixture, using a large metal spoon. Then stir in the treacle and fruit juice..
6. Add the brandy-soaked fruit mix to the cake mixture and stir until evenly blended, then turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, make a small hollow in the center and tie a treble thickness of brown paper around the outside of the tin..
7. Bake in the preheated cool oven for about 3.25-3.50 hours or until a warmed fine skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean..
8. Leave the cake in the tin overnight to cool completely. Prick the surface all over with a fine skewer, then pour over the remaining 3-4 tablespoons brandy and allow to soak in. Remove the cake from the tin, wrap securely in foil and store in a cool dry place..