Light Christmas Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Prepare fruit and wash raisins the day before.
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add eggs one at a time.
• Beat until very light.
• Add sifted flour mixed with cardamom and baking powder.
• Add orange juice alternately with the flour a little at a time.
• Dredge fruit with a little extra flour and add to batter.
• Place in 2 loaf pans, lined with brown paper and greased on the inside.
• Bake in 250°F degrees oven 2-3 hours or until done.

Steps:

• Mix cherries, peel, fruit and juice together well, and let stand for two days, stirring frequently.
• Add to remaining ingredients, mixing very thoroughly.
• Pour into bread pans, and bake three hours at 300 degrees.
• Enjoy some of the happiness we knew!

Steps:

• Warm the jam in a small pan over a low heat until loosened. Brush the fruitcake all over with half the jam. Lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar, then roll the marzipan out into a circle large enough to cover the top and side of the cake - it should be about ½cm thick. Lift the marzipan onto the cake using the rolling pin, then smooth the marzipan down the side and trim away any excess.
• Add a few drops of blue food colouring to the fondant icing, then knead until the fondant is soft and pale blue (see tip, below).
• Brush the marzipan-covered cake all over with the remaining jam. Roll the blue fondant out into a circle large enough to cover the top and side of the cake, then lift onto it using the rolling pin and smooth down the side. Trim away any excess fondant, and smooth out any marks using the palm of your hand. Set aside.
• Mix the icing sugar with 1 tbsp water at a time until you have a thick, pipeable icing (you can use up to 3 tbsp water). Divide the icing between two bowls. Add a few drops of the green food colouring to one of the bowls (leaving one bowl plain), stir to combine, then transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round nozzle.
• Pipe wiggly lines of the green icing all the way around the top and side of the cake a few times - this will be the 'wire' for the fairy lights. Use the tip of a cutlery knife or teaspoon to dot a small amount of the plain icing onto the backs of the sugared almonds, then arrange these along the piped green wire so the almonds resemble a string of fairy lights.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 150c/300f/gas 2. Grease a deep 8 inch round or 7 inch square tin. Line the base & sides with a double thickness of greaseproof paper & then grease this as well. Make sure the paper lining the sides are taller than the tin.
• Beat the eggs & Baily's together in a jug or bowl. Sift the flour, sugar & spices into the fruit mixture. Add the beaten egg mixture to the other ingredients. Beat together thoroughly with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, until completely combined. DO NOT USE A FOOD PROCESSOR.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Level with the back of a spoon.
• Make a slight indentation in the centre of the mixture so it will rise evenly.
• Bake in the centre of the oven 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours. Test the cake after 2 1/2 hours by inserting a clean metal skewer into the centre of the cake. If it is cooked, the skewer will come out clean & the centre will be firm when pressed lightly. If it is not cooked, return to the oven, but test at intervals. If the top is browning too quickly, place a disc of foil or brown paper over it to reduce burning.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven & allow to cool completely in the tin. Turn the cake out onto a wire wrack, leaving the lining paper on. Using a clean skewer, prick the top of the cake in places. Spoon over a dessert spoon of Brandy. Wrap the cake in foil or muslin, if available. Place in an airtight tin.
• Feed the cake with Brandy at intervals (once very two weeks) until required.
• If using as Christmas cake, the cake can be iced as usual, or you can decorate with just a dusting of icing sugar & ribbon.