Spiced chocolate & dried fig Christmas cake | Chocolate recipes | Jamie magazine recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to make a James Martin Christmas cake? ›

Grease and line a 28cm bundt cake tin. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, add the eggs and milk and mix, then fold in the flour spices and fruit until well mixed. Fold into the wet mix. Bake for 1¼ to 1½ hours until golden brown and firm in the middle, spoon over brandy then cool.

Preheat your oven to 110ºC/225ºF/gas ¼. Lay your figs, cut-side up, in a baking tray. Using a fine grater, zest your clementines over the figs then dust the figs with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar. Pop the figs in the oven to bake for 4 hours, checking on them every hour or so.

The cake can be made 2 weeks ahead and stored, wrapped in a double layer of greaseproof paper (parchment paper) and a layer of foil, in an airtight container in a cool place. FREEZE NOTE: The cake can be frozen, wrapped in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a double layer of foil, for up to 3 months.

Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur.

Our answer. Opinions on the "maturing" of Christmas cakes does vary and is partly an issue of personal taste, but for the rich fruit type of Christmas cakes we would suggest making them up to 3 months ahead of Christmas.

Brush with simple syrup glaze

Velez recommends adding a simple syrup glaze to your cake layers if they end up coming out too dry. Made by cooking together equal parts water and sugar, it's a traditional workaround that pastry chefs commonly use.

Dried figs contain more calories, sugar, dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals than fresh figs. Fresh figs will have more vitamin C, vitamin A, and beta-carotene.

Soaking figs in water overnight softens them. It is said to boost their fiber content.

Sprinkle the baking soda over the figs; cover with the 12 cups of boiling water. Soak for 45 minutes to 1 hour. This helps remove any latex from the skin of any slightly under-ripe figs.

But anecdotally we know that they can last for decades; some of the oldest have been preserved for more than a century. In 2017 a then 106-year-old fruitcake left behind by members of a 1910 Antarctic expedition was unearthed from one of the continent's first buildings.

Why has my Christmas cake gone mouldy? ›

However in warm and humid conditions there is a risk that the cake develops some mould, particulary if it is stored for a longer time. If making the cake well in advance then it would best, if possible, to follow the freezing instructions with the recipe. You could then thaw the cake a week in advance.

Our answer

Molasses and treacle are similar and are both syrups that are made during the processing of cane sugar. In this cake it will be fine to use molasses as a substitute. There are varying grades of molasses and some molasses are very dark and bitter, such as blackstrap molasses.

+ While brandy is the traditional partner for fruit cake, you could also try using a dessert sherry such as Pedro Ximénez. It's an intensely sweet, dark sherry made from the Spanish grape variety of the same name. Perfect in festive cakes, puddings and custards, you can find it in liquor stores.

Spiced Rum: Spiced rum has hints of ginger, cinnamon and allspice making it ideal for this festive fruit cake. Gold rum can also be used in place of spiced rum.

Whiskey serves as a great substitute for brandy in a fruitcake. Although whiskey comes from fermented grain mash while brandy is made from fermented grape mash, the process is so similar, that the flavor will be similar as well.

Whoever finds the fava bean in their slice is considered to have good luck for the coming year. Additionally, a small trinket or figurine is sometimes hidden in the cake, and the person who finds it is said to be the "king" or "queen" of the celebration.

Family recipes, historical cakes and local bakes filled the tent, but one of the most popular ideas was the good old Christmas cake. But when did fruitcake become a popular Christmas pud? Christmas cake actually started life as plum porridge, designed to line people's stomachs after a day of religious fasting.

If you're looking for a dry cake, simply over-bake it! In all seriousness though, over-baking cakes dry them out. It could only be a 30 second window between perfectly baked and over-baked, so make sure you're keeping an eye on the cake. Begin checking it 1-2 minutes before the recipe instructs.

The parchment paper and brown paper linings provide some insulation against the heat of the oven, which means that the cake bakes more evenly. If the tin is not lined in this way then the outside of the cake can cook too quickly, leaving the inside undercooked.