Small Christmas Cake
This Small Christmas Cake is packed with a variety of different fruits, nuts and spices and is deliciously soft and moist.
Servings: 10 slices
Calories:
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Alter quantities (metric only) 10 slices
Here's what you'll need...
- Large saucepan
Ingredients you'll need...
Christmas Cake Stage 1
- 80 g Raisins (US = ¾ Cup)
- 175 g Currants (US = 1 Cup)
- 150 g Sultanas (US = 1 Cup)
- 30 g Dried cranberries (3 tablespoons)
- 25 g Dried Apricots (3 tablespoons)
- 125 g Unsalted butter (US = ½ Cup)
- 130 g Dark muscovado sugar (US = ¾ Cup packed) or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon Dark treacle (US = molasses)
- 3 tablespoon Satsumas juice plus zest
- 1 tablespoon Cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- 100 ml Cold water
Christmas Cake Stage 2
- 50 g Prunes (ready to eat) (US = ⅔ Cup)
- 100 g Morello cherries (glace) halved and rolled in flour (US = ⅔ Cup)
- 30 ml Brandy (2 tablespoons)
- 25 g Whole almonds chopped (2 tablespoons)
- 25 g Walnuts chopped (2 tablespoons)
Christmas Cake Stage 3
- 2 Large eggs at room temperature and beaten (US = Extra large)
- 150 g Plain flour (US = 1 Cup- + 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda (US = baking soda)
- pinch salt
- Demerara sugar to sprinkle of top (optional)
Here's what we do...
Christmas Cake Stage 1
- Take your large saucepan and add all your Stage 1 ingredients.
- Heat on a low setting until your butter has melted, then turn up the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Leave to cool completely.
Christmas Cake Stage 2
- Once your Stage 1 mixture has cooled add all of your Stage 2 ingredients and mix together thoroughly.
Christmas Cake Stage 3
- Heat your oven 140°C Fan/160°C/320°FGas Mark 3.
- Sift together your flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda.
- Fold in all of your beaten eggs and two large dessert spoonfuls of flour to your dried fruits mixture in your saucepan and fold in to fully incorporate.
- Fold in the rest of your flour mixture.
- Tip your Christmas Cake mixture into your prepared tin and place in the lower half of your oven. Sprinkle over over demerara sugar. Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes.
- Your cake is baked once it has set on top and is shiny and firm. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out with a few fudgy bits of cake still stuck to it.
- Leave to cool in your tin for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Supporting Notes
INGREDIENTS - SUBSTITUTIONS
Below are some suggestions for substitutions. Substitute for the same weight as listed in the recipe, for example, if using a bag of mixed fruit instead of raisins/currants/sultanas use 405 grams.
TOP TOPS
Raisins, Currants and Sultanas
Bag of mixed fruit or whatever raisins/currants/sultanas you have, but try to ensure the ratio of raisins/currants together is about 65% with the other 35% being made up of sultanas, as raisins/currants are key ingredients of fruit cake.
Apricots and Prunes
You can use more apricots than prunes or vice versa.
Or replace partly or entirely with dried raisins/currants/sultanas/cranberries/apricots/prunes/dates/figs as these will work just as well.
Or replace partly or entirely with dried raisins/currants/sultanas/cranberries/apricots/prunes/dates/figs as these will work just as well.
Dried cranberries
If you don't want to add cranberries just increase the amount of raisins/currants by 30 grams.
Walnuts and almonds
You can use change the ratio of walnuts to almonds and use more of one than the other, or use Chopped nuts/pecan nuts or a combination of any.
Morello glace cherries
Replace with glace cherries or leave them out entirely if you so wish. If leaving out I recommend you increase the number of prunes you add or replace with half prunes and half ready-to-eat dates or figs, chopped.
Dark muscovado sugar
You can replace it with light muscovado sugar, dark brown sugar or light brown soft sugar.
Treacle (molasses)
Can be replaced with the same amount of golden syrup or 1 tablespoon of honey.
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
In the UK you can replace all of these spices with 1.5 teaspoons of mixed spice. Don't be tempted to increase individual spices to compensate for each other though as it will affect the flavour of your Christmas Cake, instead best to leave it out entirely if you don't have them.
Cocoa
You can replace cocoa with a tablespoon of grated dark chocolate. We melt the chocolate with our butter so this stops it from setting, or omit entirely and add an extra tablespoon of flour.
Unsalted butter
You can use salted butter but omit the pinch of salt.
Satsumas
Can be replaced with juice from a whole orange. Orange zest can be replaced with lemon zest.
Brandy
Can be replaced with the same amount of Sherry or Port or with 2 teaspoons of Amaretto or Cointreau.
Demerara sugar
Can be replaced with a covering of blanched almonds.
- Check your dried fruits to ensure they are not stuck together in clumps and if so pull them apart.
- Ensure your Christmas cake is fully cooled before storing it otherwise, it can become a little sticky.