Christmas cake is a traditional dessert associated with the festive season. There are different recipes, but the best are those with lots of fruit and the right amount of rum. If you prefer you can replace some of the fruit and instead of rum you can also use brandy. This recipe is quite flexible when it comes to substitutions. You can also use essences for flavouring if you want to avoid alcohol.

Ingredients:

  • 1/8 cup dried cherries (chopped)
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • 1/8 cup dried mango (chopped)
  • 2 Tbsp candied citron (chopped)
  • ¼ cup dried currants
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup dark rum divided
  • ½ cup flour (all-purpose)
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ cup molasses (unsulfured)
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ pecans (chopped)
  • 2 Tbsp milk

Directions:

  • Before you start making your Christmas cake, you will need to prepare your fruit. Soak all of your dried fruit and nuts in ¼ cup of rum for about 24 hours. You should place everything in a tightly covered container and store at room temperature overnight.
  • Preheat your oven to 165 degrees C and prepare a loaf or round pan by greasing with butter and line with parchment paper.
  • Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.
  • Add the egg to the butter mixture and beat together.
  • In another bowl, combine the flour, sale, cinnamon and baking sofa. Mix together with a whisk.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture slowly. Add a portion of the dry mixture before adding some molasses and milk until all of these ingredients are combined.
  • Add the soaked fruit and nuts to this mixture and stir to combine.
  • Pour this cake mixture into your baking pan.
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
  • Allow the cake to cool for about 10 minutes before you sprinkle 2 tablespoons of rum over the top,
  • Soak a cheesecloth with rum before placing the cake on parchment paper and then placing the cheesecloth on top.
  • Store your cake in an airtight container for up to 10 weeks. If you wish to store for a longer period of time, you will need to sprinkle with more rum every 10 weeks to keep the cake fresh and moist.

You can make your Christmas cake weeks in advance and this will free up your time in the weeks and days just before Christmas Eve. You can slice and enjoy this cake as is or you can serve warm with some delicious hot vanilla custard.