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Super Easy Homemade Christmas Cake With Chocolate And Chilli
An easy recipe for traditional rich Christmas fruitcake with added chilli chocolate
Ingredients
- 125 g self raising flour
- 200 g plain flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg freshly ground nutmeg is best
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 250 g unsalted butter
- 250 g soft dark brown sugar
- 2 tsp black treacle
- 5 eggs
- 25 ml medium dry sherry
- 25 ml brandy
- 100 g dark chili chocolate
- 250 g chopped dates
- 750 g dried mixed fruit
- 75 g cut mixed peel
- 75 g dried apricots
- 75 g glace cherries
- 1 lemon zest only
Instructions
- This is a 2-Day process. So start nice and gently on day one by chopping up the fruit. Dates, cherries, apricots etc things like that all need to be chopped up a bit.Toss them into a bowl and pour over the sherry.Add the chopped mixed peel and give it all a good stir.For my main mixed fruit I used a bag of Tesco Luxury Dried Mixed Fruit that boasts that requires no soaking. I am a big beleiver in the benefits of booze in cooking, so I lob in some brandy anyway
- Day 2. Preheat oven to 140C/Gas 1.The first thing to do is to line a 23cm cake tin (mine has a removable base) with a double layer of baking parchment. Now melt up some butter and grease that baby well. Use a pastry brush and get the butter right into every area so the cake won't stick.Now while you're still in the mood for paper crafting take a big piece of brown wrapping paper and fold in half to get a double layer. Wrap this around the outside of the lined cake tin so that it sticks up at least 5cm above the top of the tin. Tie it securely with string. This is to insulate the cake and stop it from burning in the oven, and it will also stop overspill.
- Measure out all your flours, salt and all spices into a bowl and set aside
- In another big bowl soften your butter. Do not chuck it in the microwave and turn it into a separated slop, just soften it and break up with your wooden spoon.Add your soft brown sugar and start creaming this into the butter
- You are now going to add 2 teaspoons of treacle to the bowl. A good way to ensure that the treacle leaves the spoon and doesn't stay welded to it, is to rub a tiny bit of olive oil on the spoon first, the treacle will then drip and gloop off nicely. Do not go wild, a tiny bit of olive oil is all you need.
- Break your 5 eggs into a bowl or jug. Give them a jolly good whisk to get them all light and fluffy. Pour your gorgeously golden fluffy eggs into the seriously sweet butter mixture you've just been working on.
- Remember that bowl you set aside ages ago, the one with all the flours and salt and spices in it? Well now's your chance to find it and press it into service.Sieve the dry ingredients into the bowl a little at a time and beat in as you go along.
- Tip your fruit a bit at a time into the batter mixture and keep stirring as you go. Add the lemon zest.
- Chop up the chocolate either by bashing with a rolling pin or by blitzing in your food processor and add to the cake batter
- Spoon it into the prepared tin and give it a good bang on the table to release air and get it to settle, smooth as much as possible on the top
- Put it into the middle of your oven and bake it for 2 hours and then check how it's doing. If the top is browning too quickly then just add a double sheet of baking parchment on top to protect it from burning and pop it back in again. Bake for approximately 3 hours altogether.
- Check if the cake is done by inserting a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean the cake is ready. Allow to cool before removing from tin and cooling completely on wire rack.
- pierce top of cake with skewer all over and drizzle over brandy. Do this every week.
- wrap cake in baking parchment and foil and feed till you are ready to ice it
- Just before Christmas once cake is well and truy stuffed with booze add a layer of marzipan and then the traditional royal icing
Notes
Christmas cake keeps for months if well wrapped in foil and clingfilm
Nutrition
Calories: 676kcalCarbohydrates: 116gProtein: 9gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 113mgSodium: 98mgPotassium: 771mgFiber: 10gSugar: 80gVitamin A: 856IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 161mgIron: 3mg
My Top Tips*Always read the full recipe first. *Assemble all your ingredients and everything you need before you start. *For baking check the size of tins I'm using as this makes a big difference to your cakes. * I use medium sized eggs unless otherwise stated. * I use extra virgin olive oil unless otherwise stated. * I use unsalted butter unless otherwise stated. * Check out My Preserving Kit!
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