Christmas Cake 2017
I had to find a different recipe for the cake this year as I was no longer able to get the Glutafin gluten-free flour I'd used for the past four years. The recipe came from the actual flour manufacturers so I wasn't sure how well it would work with a different mix. I found that Doves Farm had a recipe to use with their own flour mix so I decided to give that a try as the reviews said it was a really good cake. As a bonus, it also seems to be a longer-lasting cake. The Glutafin one only lasted for 6 weeks so I had to make it as close as possible to Christmas so that it would last for enough time afterwards. The Doves Farm one lasts for ages and ages, as a regular one would, and you can feed it just the same. Very important, that! ;)
The first step is also an important one: soak the dried fruit. This had been soaking for four days in half a bottle of Bells whisky.
The recipe itself was a bit of an odd one. Not complicated as such, it was just a strange way of doing things. The flour and ground almonds were added to the dried fruit and then that was set aside.
The next bit was to cream together the butter and sugar, then add the three eggs. Naturally it curdled, and usually the flour is added at this point to stop that. But it had already all gone in to the fruit. I tried adding a teaspoon or two of extra flour but it was so badly gone it didn't make very much difference at all. I was a little concerned because it's not a cheap cake to make and I didn't want it to be ruined. I added the fruit-flour-ground almonds mix and hoped that would sort it out. It did but not completely, it was still split a little but I was reluctant to add too much flour.
I just put it in the tin and hoped for the best. The brown paper round the outside is to stop it burning and also to help it cook evenly because it's in the oven for a long time. If the sides cooked before the middle, it would rise up in the centre and you want it to be as flat as possible.
It actually didn't take that long to cook, possibly because it's not that big of a cake. It was just over two hours.
I switched the oven off and left it in there overnight to finish cooking and cool down. And this was what came out:
It's nicely flat but it's also rather on the thin side which is a shame. Then again, I suppose that means we'll finish it off sooner. It's also quite light in colour, but there was no treacle in the recipe to make it darker. I tried to use the dark Muscovado sugar to counter that but it doesn't seem to have helped much.
So now it will be fed over the next few weeks until it's time to put on the marzipan and icing.
The first step is also an important one: soak the dried fruit. This had been soaking for four days in half a bottle of Bells whisky.
The recipe itself was a bit of an odd one. Not complicated as such, it was just a strange way of doing things. The flour and ground almonds were added to the dried fruit and then that was set aside.
The next bit was to cream together the butter and sugar, then add the three eggs. Naturally it curdled, and usually the flour is added at this point to stop that. But it had already all gone in to the fruit. I tried adding a teaspoon or two of extra flour but it was so badly gone it didn't make very much difference at all. I was a little concerned because it's not a cheap cake to make and I didn't want it to be ruined. I added the fruit-flour-ground almonds mix and hoped that would sort it out. It did but not completely, it was still split a little but I was reluctant to add too much flour.
I just put it in the tin and hoped for the best. The brown paper round the outside is to stop it burning and also to help it cook evenly because it's in the oven for a long time. If the sides cooked before the middle, it would rise up in the centre and you want it to be as flat as possible.
It actually didn't take that long to cook, possibly because it's not that big of a cake. It was just over two hours.
I switched the oven off and left it in there overnight to finish cooking and cool down. And this was what came out:
It's nicely flat but it's also rather on the thin side which is a shame. Then again, I suppose that means we'll finish it off sooner. It's also quite light in colour, but there was no treacle in the recipe to make it darker. I tried to use the dark Muscovado sugar to counter that but it doesn't seem to have helped much.
So now it will be fed over the next few weeks until it's time to put on the marzipan and icing.