Christmas takes the cake

Well, fellow foodies — it’s coming up to that time of the year when even the most diet-conscious amongst us will succumb to the pleasures of overindulgence. After all, Christmas is the perfect opportunity to savour fine food and wine with ‘rellies’ and friends.

One of the first — and certainly one of the most pleasurable — advance preparations for Christmas is making the cake. Fruitcakes are best baked at least one month in advance. The longer your masterpiece is stored the mellower and tastier and easier to cut it will be. A good fruit cake will keep for years and like wine, it often improves with age. This is also true for Christmas puddings.

The traditional English festive pudding began its career as a type of porridge — a mixture of dried plums (prunes), suet, meat, vegetables, breadcrumbs and spices. Over time additional fruit and nuts were added, the meat and veggies were removed and the pudding became so solid it was wrapped in cloth and boiled.

More than likely, Christmas cakes evolved from the festive pudding, probably around the time that ovens became more reliable and cake pans were first manufactured.

I prefer to line my cake pan when baking a fruit cake. This helps protect the sweet dried fruits from burning. High-grade flour is recommended for cakes with a lot of dried fruits as it helps support them.

Use level metric measures and when measuring flour, spoon it into the measuring cup and lightly level the top with a spoon or knife. Do not pack it into the cup. The only ingredient one normally packs firmly is brown sugar.

Gluten-free festive fruit cake

I used Edmonds Gluten-Free flour for this cake. It was voted by consumers in the latest Black Box in-home survey to be the most popular gluten-free flour. Over 100,000 households were involved in the survey.

1.2kg mixed dried fruits, chopped if large
1 cup sherry or brandy
250g butter, at room temperature
300g dark cane sugar
5 large eggs
250g gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
Pinch salt

1. Place the dried fruit in a large bowl. Add the sherry and mix well. Cover and soak overnight.
2. Next day, preheat the oven to 150C. Line the base and sides of a 23-25cm round spring-form cake pan with baking paper.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together, until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, spice and salt into a bowl then add alternately to the butter mixture with the dried fruit and any liquid. Spoon into the cake pan and smooth the top with a wet hand.
4. Bake for about 2¼ hours or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove and cool in the pan. Wrap in foil and store in a cool place.
5. The top may be garnished with stars cut from gluten-free royal icing.

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White chocolate and macadamia nut panforte

Panforte is a festive Italian flat cake — a cross between fruitcake, candy and a honey cake. It is traditionally made with dark fruits and chocolate. This is a light version.

Makes about 24 pieces

3 cups mixed dried fruits eg pineapple, mango, ginger, papaya, chopped
1 cup each: whole macadamia nuts, plain flour
1 tsp mixed ground spice
2 Tbsp water
½ cup each: mild honey, sugar
100g white chocolate, chopped
1 tsp vanilla paste

1. Preheat the oven to 150C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper.
2. Combine the fruit, nuts, flour and spice in a bowl.
3. Heat the water, honey and sugar on low, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 1 minute. Add the chocolate and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Pour into the dry ingredients, mix, and quickly spoon evenly into the pan.
4. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the edges are firm but the centre still a little soft. Cut into thin slices to serve. Can be dusted with icing sugar.

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Five-minute fruit cake

This cake doesn’t have the same keeping qualities as a traditional one but is so quick to prepare.

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1kg mixed dried fruits, large pieces chopped
¼ cup brandy
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
175g butter, melted
1½ cups high-grade flour
½ tsp each: ground cinnamon, nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to 150C. Line a deep 20cm round cake pan with baking paper.
2. Combine the eggs, fruit, brandy and brown sugar in a bowl. Stir in the cooled butter, then the sifted flour and spices. Spread evenly into the cake pan.
3. Bake for 1¾-2 hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake just starts to come away from the sides. Cool then wrap in foil and store in a cool place.

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 Old-fashioned Christmas pudding

I like to use chopped dried apricots and/or craisins in the fruit mix — they provide a terrific tang. Great served with brandy sauce or custard.

Serves 8-10

225g butter, chopped
1½ cups milk
3 cups soft breadcrumbs
¾ cup dark cane sugar
1½ cups high-grade flour
Pinch salt
750g mixed dried fruits
1 Tbsp treacle
1 tsp each: mixed spice, vanilla essence
2 Tbsp brandy
1 tsp baking soda dissolved in a little warm milk

1. Place the chopped butter in a large saucepan. Add the milk and simmer, until the butter melts. Pour onto the breadcrumbs and sugar in a bowl. Mix well. Cool.
2. Sift in the flour and salt and add all the other ingredients. Spoon into a greased 5-cup pudding basin. Cover the top tightly with foil and tie to secure or cover with a fitting lid. Place the bowl in a steamer. Cover and steam over boiling water for three hours.
3. Wrap in foil when cool, then refrigerate. Reheat in a steamer for about 45 minutes or in the microwave for about 5 minutes.

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