Simmer-&-stir Christmas cake

It’s an easy-to-make alternative to traditional Christmas cakes which requires no beating.

Prep: 1 hr – 1 hr and 15 mins
Cook: 1 hr – 2 hrs and 30 mins (cooking time 2 hrs 30 if gas oven)
More effort

Ingredients

175g butter, chopped
200g dark muscovado sugar
750g luxury mixed dried fruit (one that includes mixed peel and glacé cherries)
finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
100ml/3½ fl oz cherry brandy or brandy plus 4 tbsp more
85g macadamia nut
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
85g ground almond
200g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground allspice

Simmer-&-stir Christmas cake Method

Step: 1 Drop the butter, sugar, fruit, zests, juice, and 100ml/3½fl oz brandy in a large pan. Drive slowly to the boil, moving until the butter has melted. Lower the heat and bubble for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step: 2 Take away the pan from the heat and let it cool for 30 minutes.

Step: 3 For now, preheat the oven to 150C/gas 2/ fan 130C and line a 20cm round cake tin. Bake the nuts in a dry frying pan, spinning them until evenly browned, or in the oven for about 8-10 minutes – Watch over them as they burn easily. When they are cool, chop roughly. Whip the eggs, nuts, and ground almonds into the fruit mixture and meet well. Filter the flour, baking powder, and spices into the pan. Stir in gently, to the left with no traces of flour.

Step: 4 Scoop the mixture into the tin and smooth it down evenly – you will find this is trouble-free with the back of a metal spoon that has been dipped into boiling water.

Step: 5 Oven bake for 45 minutes, and now turn down the heat to 140C/gas 1/ fan120C and cook for a further 1-1¼ hours or (about a further 1¾ hours if you have a gas oven) or until the cake becomes dark golden in looks and firm to the touch. Put the foil on top of the cake if it starts to darken too much. Insert a fine skewer into the center to check if the cake is done, if it comes out clean, means the cake is cooked.

Step: 6 Take a fine skewer and make holes all over the warm cake and spoon the extra 4 tbsp brandy over the holes until it has all rinse in. Let the cake cool in the tin. When it gets cold, take it out from the tin, peel off the lining paper, and wrap it first in baking parchment then in foil. (The cake will be kept in a cupboard for about three months or you can freeze it for about six months).