OK, I know it is still only mid November but I really can't wait any longer so, today we are talking Christmas Cake and Pudding. Wohohohohoooooo!!! These are the things I remember best from my childhood. Religiously each year these would be made at the beginning of December, without fail. I don't remember ever seeing a shop bought version in the house. No matter how busy my Mam was she would never decide she just didn't have the time to bake these treasures. Like me, my Mam was not a big lover of fruit cake and like me I don't really remember ever seeing her eat either of these creations. She would on occasion have a slice of German Pound Cake, the only fruit cake I tend to eat, and so always made one of these as a lighter alternative to the richness of the festive cake and pudding. Regardless of this fact she made them each and every year for my Dad and visitors to enjoy, and likewise since moving into my own home I have done the same for my husband and our guests.
This was the Christmas task that seemed to fill my mam with dread. She would always say "I suppose I'd better get the cakes done this weekend". I think the use of the word "suppose" indicates it wasn't her favourite task and one that she embarked upon with a feeling of some dread. Having made them for the past 3 or 4 years now I can kind of understand why. It can seem quite a daunting task with lots of ingredients to organise, mammoth stirring to ensure everything is mixed, lining tins, resting periods and then baking. Mam used to bake at least 2 or 3 of each to give to others as well as for our family which for one woman, 2 small children and a scullery kitchen is no mean feat! The key to a stress free Christmas baking fest is to be organised with your ingredients and have everything measured before you start, ready to be thrown into the mixing bowl as you need it.
I have come over with a lovely warm, fuzzy feeling as I sit and draw up memories of the Sunday afternoons myself and my sister sat cramped around the table in our small scullery kitchen helping my mam with her most arduous Christmas task. Back in the day you couldn't just pop to your local supermarket and buy bags of prepared dried fruit. No sirree Bob. That's where the child labour came into play. Our little fingers were the perfect size to pluck those wizened, shrunken stalks from the variety of fruit needed to bejewel the creations in question. So, there we sat perched on the edge of our seats, our teeny legs swinging happily below us plucking out the stalks for dumping and depositing the fruit into a bowl. Then there were the Glace cherries to be halved, slippery little beggars that leave an industrial layer of goo on you fingers. Whilst we were doing this Mam would be expertly lining baking tins with grease proof paper at a speed I have only just this year mastered and measuring out flour and margarine.
It was always lovely and cozy, all three of us sitting there with the electric fire from the sitting room sending some lovely heat our way with the day outside falling darker and darker as we worked. Mam was a great one for singing and humming away as she worked. No matter what she busied herself with she always brightened it up with a little tune as she lost herself in her task, another trait I have picked up. Even if I don't realise I am doing it I find that when some disturbance brings me back to reality I am singing something or other to myself and whomever else might be within earshot. God help them, because as my Dad would say, the only notes I carry are in my pocket.
Once we had worn our fingers raw with the minuscule stalk plucking and Mam had mixed all of the ingredients together and intoxicated us all with the smell of the booze added to the concoction the mixtures were lovingly covered and left to sit over night or poured into there baking tins and placed in the oven. It was tradition in our house that the pudding mixture could not be placed into pudding bowls and cooked until everyone had made a wish on it. We would take it in turns to swirl the wooden spoon three times in the mixture towards our heart and then make a wish. If someone was missing from the house at wishing hour the pudding would be left sitting until they made their wish and only then would it be placed into its bowl and steamed on the hob until beautifully dark in colour. As they baked or boiled every last corner of the house would be filled with magical winter aromas of Cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg. Smells that for me truly mean Christmas is coming.
And so it is that I hope to continue to carry this tradition down through the years and create deliciously fragrant Christmas memories for others as my Mam created for me. Memories to be savoured each year when the cold winter days leave me longing for the warmth and comfort that can only be found in looking at the magic of Christmas through the eyes of my child self.
These recipes have been tried and tested over many years so I hope that you, your family and friends enjoy them this Christmas.
Mam's Christmas Cake
- 12oz/350g Margarine (@ room temp)
- 12oz/350g Dark Brown Sugar
- 1lb/450g Currants
- 12oz/350g Sultanas
- 12oz/350g Raisins
- 5oz/150g Glace Cherries (halved)
- 5oz/150g Mixed Candied Peel
- 5oz/150g Almonds (blanched & chopped)
- Grated rind of 2 Lemons
- Grated rind of 1 Orange
- 15oz/425g Plain Flour*
- 1 1/2 level tsp Mixed Spice *
- 1/2 level tsp Ground Nutmeg*
- 3oz/75g Ground Almonds
- 7 Eggs (large)
- 3fl oz Whiskey
* Sieve these ingredients together
Optional Ingredients
- 6fl oz Whiskey
- Apricot Jam
- 1 450g pack of Ready Made Marzipan/Almond Paste
- 1 450g pack of Ready Made Icing
- (I think we've done enough hard work so unless you have oodles of time Christmas week give yourself a break and cheat a little)
- Brush the baking tin with melted margarine and line the bottom and sides with double grease proof paper.
- Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 2/300°F/150°C
- Place all of the ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. (at least 3-4 minutes)
- Place the mixture in the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 3 hours. Check at this stage as ovens vary. A warm, clean skewer inserted into the centre of the cake will come out clean when the cake is cooked. Also the top centre of the cake should feel firm to the touch.
- If the cake is not ready after 3 hours return to the oven and check after intervals of 1/2 an hour
- To prevent the top of the cake becoming to brown a double layer of parchment or foil can be placed on the top at this stage.
- Once removed from the oven leave the cake to cool in the tin overnight. (at this stage I pour an additional 3fl oz of whiskey over the cake)
- The next morning when the cake has cooled and before removing it from the tin I pour another 3fl oz of whiskey over the cake and leave in the tin until it has soaked in.
- Once the whiskey has soaked in remove the cake from the tin and wrap in a layer of parchment paper. Turn the wrapped cake upside down and rotate by 45° and wrap in another layer of parchment. Repeat this with foil. Rotating by 45° ensures that all joins in parchment and foil are covered to ensure the cake is sealed. Place in a cake tin and store n a cool place. If you do not have a cake tin to hand store in a cool dry place.
- I store the cake in this manner until Christmas week at which stage I ice the cake. This prevents any damage occurring to icing or decorations whilst the cake is being stored.
- To ice the cake, place onto a cake board.
- Heat some apricot jam in a saucepan to make it easier to spread. Spoon some onto the top of the cake and spread around to cover. Use a pastry brush to spread around the side of the cake.
- Roll the marzipan into a thin layer (approx 5mm) and place over the cake. Smooth over the cake and trim any excess from the cake board. Repeat this step with the icing.
- Decorate the cake as you wish with miniature Christmas ornaments, ribbon. Alternatively cut shapes from icing using cookie cutters, brush the back with some water and place on the cake. use edible sugar decorations, glitter or lustre to add some glitz or colour.
Mam's Christmas Pudding
This recipe makes 2 puddings that will serve at least 12
- 6oz/175g Self Raising Flour
- 1 level tsp Mixed Spice
- 1 level tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 level tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 8oz/225g White Breadcrumbs
- 12oz/350g Dark Brown Sugar
- 1lb/450g Currants
- 8oz/225g Raisins
- 8oz/225g Sultanas
- 4oz/125g Mixed Candied Peel
- 4oz/125g Glace Cherries (halved)
- 2oz/50g Almonds (blanched & chopped)
- Finely grated rind of 1 Orange
- Finely grated rind of 1 Lemon
- 8oz/225g Margarine (melted)
- 3 Large Eggs*
- 2tbsp Brandy, Rum or Whiskey*
- 1/2 Pint/275ml Guinness*
*Beat these ingredients together
- Grease 2 1.1lt/2 pint pudding bowls.
- Cut large circles of double grease proof paper for the tops of the bowls and grease well. Make pleats crosswise in the paper.
- Cut a large circle of foil for each bowl and make pleats as with the grease proof paper.
- Sieve the flour and spices into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the breadcrumbs*, sugar, fruit, nuts, lemon and orange rind and mix thoroughly.
- Make a well in the centre, then pour in the melted margarine and the beaten egg mixture. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon.
- Cover and leave to stand overnight to thicken.
- The next day add the Guinness and mix thoroughly again. (It's at this stage you can make a wish of you like, it won't make any difference to the end result, but you never know it may just come true)
- Place the mixture into the prepared bowls.
- Place the grease proof paper over the top of the bowl and secure just under the rim of the bowl with a large elastic band (my Mam used twine which she tied in a really tight knot, the bowl must be airtight, this is a bit fiddly and when I was unable to get twine in my local store this year my hubby brought me home a pack of elastic bands which were a doddle to place on). Repeat this step with the foil. Place lid on bowl securely.
- Place a large pot on the hob. Put an up turned saucer in the bottom of the pot. Place the pudding bowl on the saucer in the pot and pour in boiling water to come half way up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a tight fitting lid and boil for 4 1/2 - 5 hours.
- Ensure the level of the water remains the same at all times.
- When the pudding is ready carefully remove from the pot and allow to cool completely.
- When cool remove the damp papers and recover with fresh double grease proof paper (not greased), replace the lid of the bowl and store in a cool dry place.
* The breadcrumbs need to be a little stale. A few hours before you start remove the bread from its pack and remove the crusts. Lay the slices down on a work surface and leave in the air to go slightly hard, turn over after a couple of hours to repeat on the other side. Once the bread is a little stale place in a food processor and pulse until you have fine breadcrumbs.
