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Recipe: Bettys Traditional Christmas Cake

Sunday 24th November is 'Stir Up Sunday', when families traditionally gather together to make Christmas puddings and cakes. This recipe has been handed down to Lesley Wild by her mother. It makes a beautifully moist and colourful cake which can be decorated with glacé fruits - a lovely centrepiece for the family Christmas table.

Ingredients

For the cake
  • 250g butter, at room temperature
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 250g plain white flour
  • 75g ground almonds
  • Pinch of salt
  • 250g golden sultanas
  • 125g glacé pineapple, finely chopped
  • 75g crystallised ginger, finely chopped
  • 185g whole mixed peel (lemon, orange and citron), finely chopped
  • 50g angelica, finely chopped
  • 125g chopped walnuts
  • 50ml sherry
  • Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 250g naturally coloured glacé cherries

    • For the decoration
  • 3 - 4 tablespoons apricot jam
  • 3 - 4 tablespoons water
  • glacé fruits (orange and lemon slices, pineapple, apricots, figs, cherries, angelica)

    • Method

    1. Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm diameter cake tin with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 140ºC (gas mark 1).

    2. Place the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Beat until pale and creamy.

    3. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing in well.

    4. Combine the flour, almonds and salt together and add to the mixture gradually.

    5. Next, add the sultanas, pineapple, ginger, peel, angelica, walnuts, sherry and lemon juice and zest. Mix well, then gently stir in the cherries so that they remain whole.

    6. Transfer the cake mixture to the cake tin, flattening the surface with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 3 hours. The cake will be ready when it is golden brown on top and firm to the touch, but don’t be afraid to give it a little longer if it doesn’t appear to be ready. To check, pierce the centre with a thin skewer – it should come out clean.

    7. When cool enough to handle, remove from the cake tin and leave on a cooling rack until completely cold. To store, wrap in tin foil and place in an airtight container in a cool place.

    8. To decorate, place the apricot jam and water in a small pan over a low heat. Stir well until you have a thick glaze.

    Brush the top of the cake with a generous quantity of the apricot mixture, then lay the glacé fruits on top in a design of your choice. Allow to cool, then brush the top of the fruits with a little more apricot glaze.