I've never been particularly fond of Christmas Cake. I have to say that dried up bits of fruit, citrus rind and glace cherries all mushed together in a cake. . . not overly appealing to me I'm afraid. But I revised my opinion when I hired out a DVD from the local library called 'Nigella's Christmas'. Watching her make this decadent, moist cake. . . even I wanted to eat it. And it looked so easy. But first I had to get a spring form pan.
I've neglected- actually more like- deliberately avoided buying a spring form pan as I believed them to be unnecessary for the home cook. Spring form pans, in my opinion, were for Chefs and those who cooked in a commercial capacity. However, after watching this DVD and seeing how easily Nigella's cake slipped from that spring form pan I decided to invest in one- from the local supermarket.(No expense spared).
And I am in love!!!! How could I not have had one of these?Why did it take me so long to buy one?Was I mad?Absolutely! A device that makes baking easier. Who wouldn't want one? It makes cooking cakes so much simpler. Thank the Lord for spring form pans and baking paper, I now say, and I really think the pan had a great deal to do with the success of my Christmas Cake- at least with its final appearance.
Now that I had my spring form pan I had to bake the cake. The ingredients for Nigella Lawsons boiled Fruit Cake (also to be found on Nigella's Christmas DVD) are:- In a saucepan place-2 Cups of Raisins, 1Cup of Currants, 1 packet of prunes mashed to pieces, 1 Cup of Tia Maria, 250g butter, 1teaspoon mixed spice, 1 Cup of dark sugar, 3/4 to 1Cup Honey, the grated rind and juice of one orange and 1 Tablespoon Cocoa or chocolate and melt it all together.
Please note:- these ingredients are approximate as I had to guess as I watched the DVD- but the cake turned out fine.
Also:- a friend suggested changing prunes to figs if you have a preference for them but I haven't tried that yet.
Once this is all melted into a delicious gooey mess turn the heat off and add to the mixture 4 eggs, 2 Cups Plain Flour, 1/2 Cup of Almond Meal, 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder and 1 teaspoon of Bicarb Soda and stir in well. Then spoon the mixture into your spring form pan (or cake tin) that has been lined with baking paper- or as Nigella suggests reusable baking parchment- and bake on a low oven for approximately two hours.(Remember to preheat the oven).
Nigella's tip, which I plan to use for cooking other types of cakes, is to make sure your baking paper goes an inch or two above the rim of your cake tin. This will prevent your cake burning. I can vouch that this works. So simple, yet so practical.
All that's left to do is decorate your cake- not a neccesity but it makes it look fabulous. And all this is created using only one large sauepan, one cake tin and a few utensils. If you're like me and are cook and dishwasher all rolled into one- this is a bonus.
So, for the decoration:- some chocolate coated coffee beans (chocolate coated anything if coffee beans aren't available but I stuck to the recipe and hunted down some coffee beans- not easy in a small country town- and was pleased that I did) some gold edible glitter (available online or at Spotlight) and some gold cachous(edible gold balls). The coffee beans go in the centre of the cake- hiding any hint that the cake may have sunk upon cooling- go Nigella! (What a great idea. I could have used this tip many a time)- the glitter goes all over the top and the little gold balls go amongst the coffee beans. Larger stars or large gold edible decorations can top this off but are hard to find in some areas and can be a tad expensive. I bought my decorations online and they weren't cheap. Granted I have enough to make probably another 15 or so Christmas Cakes so I know what I'll be taking to family Christmas dinners for the next decade!
Overall, this cake was a great success. My family loved it on Christmas Day and my colleagues at work, on whom I inflicted my first, trial run cake, also liked it. Some of the ingredients can be a little pricey but you can substitute if you like. For example if you don't want to go out and buy a bottle of Tia Maria- or have a preference for other liquers, they would also work but the coffee taste does add to the cake.
Or you could do what I did and make your own Tia Maria. No not the illegal way. I found a recipe in one of a local club's fundraising cookbooks that uses a base of rum and coffee to create a coffee tasting liquer. More on that another time.
If, like me, you've never been a fan of Christmas cake- either the taste or the extended cooking times, the soaking etc etc- then maybe this is the Christmas Cake for you. Given that it tastes wonderful and moist it's sure to be a crowd pleaser and if you take a little bit of time to decorate it the cake can become the centrepiece of your table. Above all its simple and- apart from the slow baking in the oven- is relatively quick to make which is great around the Chrisrtmas season when time is often hard to come by.
Nigella Lawson, you have converted me. I think I'll borrow that DVD again and see what else I can make!!
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