Christmas cake

1. Heat oven to 160C (not fan bake).
2. Blitz or chop the prunes and mix with the cold tea or beer.
3. Put into a large bowl with the dried fruit. Leave to soak.
4. Double-line 2 cake tins – 23cm round or 20cm square - with enough baking paper  to come a couple of cm’s  above the top of the tin. Lightly oil the tins first so the paper sticks closely to the sides.
5. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy and then add in the eggs one by one.
6. Mix in the flour, mixed spice, nuts, chocolate, soaked fruit and liquid from the bowl, then pour into the cake tins.
7. Bake for 2-3 hours. You will need to check the cakes after 1½ - 2 hours and cover the top if needed to prevent it getting too brown.
8. Cook the cake until a skewer comes out clean.

9. When cool you can decorate the cakes with prunes, walnuts and pomegranate seeds or your favourite Christmas icing.

AND MORE

• Add 2 tbsp of molasses for a richer flavour.
• Cut the pomegranate in half and knock all the seeds out.
• If you aren’t going to decorate the cake straight away freeze the seeds mixed with a little syrup or apricot jam; in a clip lock bag until you are ready to use.
• Pomegranate seeds work well in salads and sprinkled over pulled roast lamb.

Tips

• Be quick when checking your cakes! Keeping the oven door open for too long will reduce the temperature in the oven and can affect the texture of your cake!

FAQs

• How do I stop the fruit from sinking to the bottom of my cake?
  • Be careful not to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, otherwise the batter will be too full of air to hold up the fruit. The butter and sugar should be just creamed. Some cooks dust their dried fruit in a little flour, which seems to keep them suspended in the batter.
• Why is my Christmas cake so dry?
  • A dry cake is usually the result of one of the following pitfalls: using the wrong ingredients, making mistakes while mixing the batter, or baking the cake too long or at too high a temperature.