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recipes
‘Tis the season to eat lots of sweet treats! Here at Biscuiteers we take confectionery very seriously which is why this festive season we’re not only expertly icing our famous hand-iced biscuits, we’re also committed to filling your festive feasting tables with a host of family favourites and that includes a classic Christmas cake!
Our Christmas cake is filled with an abundance of fruits and is finished with beautifully hand-iced with flowers and foliage. You can order your very own iced Biscuiteers Christmas Cake or follow the recipe below to learn how to make your own traditional treat! 1. In a large mixing bowl, place all the fruit, apart from the lemon juice and zest, pour over the brandy and hot water and stir. When combined, cover with cling film and leave to soak overnight (or up to a week), stirring daily. 2. When your fruit is soaked, grease and line a 6 inch round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. Preheat your oven to 145C.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together, gradually adding the eggs whilst beating with an electric whisk. Fold in the flour, spices and almonds and mix until fully combined. On a low speed, stir in the soaked fruit, lemon juice and lemon zest.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, making sure the top is level.
5. Cover your tins with foil, place in the centre of a preheated oven and bake for 2 and a half to 3 hours at 145c. Take the foil off the cake for the last half an hour of baking. The cake should be a rich golden brown colour when done. 6. When your cake has cooled, remove the greaseproof paper, pierce the top multiple times with a fine skewer and drizzle over a little extra brandy. Cover your cooled cake in greaseproof paper and foil and store in a cool environment for a period of 2 weeks or up to 3 months, feeding with more brandy at regular intervals. 7. If you’re planning on icing your cake, don’t feed it for one final week to give it time to dry before decorating.
8. For the marzipan covering, place your cake upside down on a cake board slightly larger than the cake.
9. Coat the top and the sides of the cake with warmed up apricot jam.
10. Cover your work surface with a large dusting of icing sugar, then roll out the marzipan until it is about 2 inches larger than the surface of the cake. 11. Using a rolling pin, carefully lift the marzipan up and over onto the cake. Ease and smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake, then trim any excess from the base of the cake with a sharp knife. 12. Now to decorate! You can add some finishing decorative flourishes to your Christmas cake using some royal icing. Follow our icing tutorial here for some top tips on how to prepare your icing. And there you have it! A classic Christmas cake ready to be sliced and dug into or delicately decorated. Remember, to share your Christmas creations with us on our instagram @Biscuiteersltd with the #biscuiteersmagic.
Biscuiteers Christmas Cake Recipe
05 December 2023
|
5 mins
Our Christmas cake is filled with an abundance of fruits and is finished with beautifully hand-iced with flowers and foliage. You can order your very own iced Biscuiteers Christmas Cake or follow the recipe below to learn how to make your own traditional treat!
Ingredients
- - 70g Mixed Dried Fruit
- - 60g Chopped Apricots
- - 60g Chopped Figs
- - 60g Chopped Dates
- - 60g Cranberries
- - 75g Mixed Peel
- - 75g Glace Cherries
- - 75ml Brandy
- - 185ml Hot Water
- - 62g Butter
- - 62g Brown Sugar
- - 3 Large Eggs
- - 62g Ground Almonds
- - 62g Wholemeal Flour
- - 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- - Zest Half a Lemon
- - ½ tsp Nutmeg
- - 1 tsp Mixed Spice
- - 1 tsp Cinnamon
- - Pinch of Salt
- - 3 tbsp Apricot Jam
- - Icing Sugar for dusting
- - 650g Marzipan
serves:16
difficulty:Medium
Over 2 hours
Method:
Why do you soak fruit for a Christmas cake?
The longer you leave your fruits to soak, the more juicy and plump they become. This helps add a richer flavour and moist consistency to your cake.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together, gradually adding the eggs whilst beating with an electric whisk. Fold in the flour, spices and almonds and mix until fully combined. On a low speed, stir in the soaked fruit, lemon juice and lemon zest.
4. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, making sure the top is level.
5. Cover your tins with foil, place in the centre of a preheated oven and bake for 2 and a half to 3 hours at 145c. Take the foil off the cake for the last half an hour of baking. The cake should be a rich golden brown colour when done.
Top Tip:
Insert a skewer into the centre of the cake, if the skewer comes out clean your cake is ready to come out the oven!
Why do you need to feed a Christmas cake?
If you serve your Christmas cake too soon after baking it will crumble. Storing and feeding your cake adds moisture and intensifies the flavours.
8. For the marzipan covering, place your cake upside down on a cake board slightly larger than the cake.
9. Coat the top and the sides of the cake with warmed up apricot jam.
10. Cover your work surface with a large dusting of icing sugar, then roll out the marzipan until it is about 2 inches larger than the surface of the cake.
Top Tip:
Make sure to move your marzipan on the surface whilst rolling it out, this helps ensure it doesn’t stick.
Top Tip:
Let the marzipan on your cake dry for 24 hours before adding decorative royal icing on top.