I realise every daughter says this but my Mum does the best Christmas Cake. Its the most devine thing I have ever tasted, and it wouldn´t be Christmas without it. Served on its own, or with a slice of Wenslydale Cheese… its marvellous. Its uniquely her own because she does a rather unusual thing with the cherries – she puts them in a blender with the brandy and candied peel and whizzes them! It adds the most wonderful flavour to the cake, and it is a tip I would heartily recommend.

People would beg my Mum to make a cake. When she first invented the cake recipe that exists today she´d make one small cake, maybe two for the family. A year or two later we were mixing the cake by hand in a huge bread bowl – turning out 10 cakes for family and friends.

Ingredients
8 oz strong plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1½ tsp ground mixed spice
¾ tsp ground ginger
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp salt (not low salt)
3 tbsp – either Brandy / Sherry / Whisky or a mixture
1 oz glace cherries
1 oz candied peel
1 tsp almond extract
6 oz butter or margarine
6 oz soft brown sugar
3 large eggs – room temperature
1 oz ground almonds
6 oz stoned raisins
5 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 tbsp milk

Preparation of Fruit
Raisins/Sultanas – to be washed/dried/cut into small pieces, stems removed
Currants – to be washed and dried, stems removed – leave to dry overnight on a clean tea towel over a tray

It is important to pick through the fruit, remove any stems or damaged fruit.

Preheat over to 130 degrees Celsius.

Sift together flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, ground ginger, ground cinnamon and salt into a baking bowl, put to one side.

Put candied peel, cherries, spirits and almond extract into a bowl, cover and leave until required, then transfer to a liquidiser and blend until fairly smooth.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and soft brown sugar until pale in colour, beat in eggs (one at a time) adding a little flour with each egg.

Stir in sieved dry ingredients along with prepared fruit, ground almonds and the candied peel/cherry/spirit mixture, adding a little milk if needed.

Test for dropping consistency – mixture should drop off the spoon when tapped on the rim of the bowl – the mixture should “shine”

Cook until done – Use warmed darning needle or skewer to check. If it comes away clean it is done. We don’t do exact times in this house, but will let you know when we cook this next. Do not open the door for the first hour of cooking, as apparently it will sink.

When cooled brush lightly with Brandy, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container. Store in a cool dark place. This cake will improve with age. Brush lightly with brandy once per week.

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