St Hilda's College
It's not long until Christmas, and Oxmas is even sooner, so it's time to start baking everyone's favourite festive cake - Christmas cake!
Our Pastry Chef May Normington shares her top tips for creating the best Christmas cake for the festive season.
1. Soak your fruit at least 24hrs in advance of your bake. You can use your preferred alcohol of choice Brandy being traditional, but rum, whiskey, amaretto etc will all give a lovely boozy festive taste. Alternatively, citrus juice or cold brewed tea work just as well. This helps to plump up the dried fruits and "wake them up".
2. A rich fruit cake is predominantly dried fruit, therefore you often don't need a raising agent it's more about getting the other ingredients really well combined and evenly distributed, so that they envelop the fruit and give an even bake.
3. All ovens differ, but generally a temperature of no more than 140c is required, low and slow is the aim. After the first couple of hours of baking the cake will be sturdy enough for you to open the door and check on it. Unlike a sponge, the fruit cake shouldn't sink and is therefore more forgiving!
4. Be creative! Why not try using different types of dried fruits, for instance cranberries, golden raisins, apricots. You can also choose your spices to your own taste. Why not add a little more or less of what's stated in your recipe based on your taste, maybe a teaspoon of cardamom or ginger for warmth.
5. Finally, don't forget to make a wish as you do your final stir, after all, a lot of love has gone into this bake.
