If you want to make a Christmas cake you can take the time to buy and weigh out all the ingredients individually. Essentially you will need brandy soaked fruits, currants, sultanas, raisins, glace cherries etc (these need to be soaked overnight so that they soften), flour, sugar, eggs, treacle, mixed spice, nutmeg and the zest of a lemon and an orange. Alternatively, you can cheat and buy a kit that does all the time consuming bits for you by weighing out all the ingredients you will need and providing the fruits ready soaked in brandy so you can just mix everything together, no-one will ever know that you didn’t weigh the ingredients yourself!
Lining the tin is important so that the cake doesn’t catch and burn during the long, slow cooking process. The inside of the tin needs to be fully lined with greaseproof paper and then a double layer of brown paper tied with string round the outside of the tin. (If you don’t have brown paper to hand you can use newspaper or even a manila envelope). You will also need to cover the top of the cake with greaseproof paper so that it doesn’t burn.
The cake will take at least 4 hours to cook and it is best not to open the oven during this time, you will know it is done when you press the centre of the cake with you finger and it springs back without leaving an impression.
Once the cake has cooled completely you will need to feed it occasionally with Brandy (or orange juice). Make small holes in the top of the cake and then spoon brandy over the top, this can be done as many or as few times as you like. Between being fed the cake will need to be well wrapped up in greaseproof paper and tin foil and kept in an airtight container until you are ready to decorate it.