Hi Rachel
I've just popped my cakes into the oven and like you my mixture was quite wet. How did your cake turn out (if you can remember!) Did you need to leave it in longer? Thanks.

Hi Claire, yes I think that sounds like a great idea. I'd just fold in the almonds when you add the fruit. Hope you enjoy the cake! And Happy Christmas! 😊 🎄 Debbie x

I am definitely making it again this year !!!

Hi Sue, thanks so much for your comment. Yes you can omit the alcohol without issue but you may want to wait to nearer Christmas before you make the cake as the alcohol does help to preserve. So maybe end of nov/beginning Dec. You can also use apple or orange juice as a replacement and feed the cake weekly with a couple of tablespoons of juice to help keep it moist. Hope this helps! Thanks, Debbie x

Hi Chris, I'd keep feeding every week right up until you ice it, so your cake stays nice and moist. The alcohol will also help to preserve your cake (as well as adding to the flavour). You could even fit in a extra feed just before you ice. Apricot jam is the traditional flavour to use with Christmas cake, but you can use any flavour you like, I'd always recommend using a smooth seedless jam so you don't get any lumps of bumps. The marzipan is optional but without you may not get as smooth a finish as theres one less layer between the fruit cake and icing. Also, the icing may discolour due to the dark coloured liquids and oils in the cake.......this usually takes a couple of weeks to occur though so shouldn't be a problem if you are icing within a week of Christmas. I hope this is helpful and I hope you enjoy your cake! Happy Christmas!! Debbie xx

Hi Debbie
I'm planning on icing my cake the weekend before Christmas, when should i stop feeding it?
Can I use any flavour of jam to help the icing to stick? Also can i leave out the marzipan layer?
Chris

Thank you for your reply

Hi Christine thanks for getting in touch. So pleased to hear you've made this Christmas cake. As you've made the smaller one you may just want to drizzle over 1 tbsp rather than 2, but I still recommend you do this once a week. The weekly feeding helps keep the cake moist. I do hope you enjoy the cake! And Happy Christmas for nearer the time 😀🎅 Debbie x

Hi Chiamaka, thanks for your question! Just replace the almonds with the same amount of flour. If you want you could add a tsp of vanilla extract to make up the flavour that the almonds would have provided. Hope this helps and hope you give the recipe a try! Happy baking! Thanks, Debbie

So pleased you like it Natasha! 🙂 Hope you enjoy the cake!! Have a lovely Christmas!! Debbie x

Thank so much Julie 🙂

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for getting in touch - so nice to hear that my tips are coming in useful:-)

Yes I definitely agree about adapting to your own tastes. The almonds and chocolate powder are additions I made a couple of years ago that will definitely be repeated every year from now on. Yes icing and marzipan can definitely be very overpowering on a cake that is already super sweet, I always try to keep my icing and marzipan as thin as possible for this reason. But I would probably ditch as well if I was just making for myself. However - I also have a post on christmas cake muffins - these are fantastic as you can decorate each one differently to satisfy a multitude of tastes. I think I actually prefer these 🙂

Ahhh yes - the eggs! I've learnt the hard way that its just best to go as slow as possible and make sure they are well whisked before adding. But I have a machine - and I know that with a handheld whisk its a lot harder and so tempting to just dump the whole lot in. The only saving grace is the addition of a few tablespoons of dry ingredients if it looks like the mix is about to split - this usually saves it and allows you to continue. I would never crack the eggs directly in one at a time - the mixture just can't take it and will more than likely split.

For the feeding I only add 2 tablespoons each time and do this every one to two weeks. But I use sherry which I think is a bit lighter in taste than rum, brandy or whisky - plus it reminds me of my Grandmas sherry trifles 🙂 I don't usually feed the week before Christmas as I like the cake to have dried out thoroughly before icing. I think the idea is to keep the cake moist and the sugar and alcohol is meant to help stop the cake from going off. So I always try to spoon over a bit of sherry at least every fortnight. However, a cake that is well wrapped in clingfilm and kept in a tin will probably be ok anyway.

Yes cooking times do vary from oven to oven. The old skewer test is probably the only way to gauge it and each person has a fairly good idea if their oven runs too hot or not hot enough. For an 8 inch cake I always check it after 2 hours 15. More than likely that it won't be done but I can possibly guestimate how much longer it needs.

Hope your cake is a success this year - and maybe give the muffins idea a go - they really are a great way to share out Christmas cake. Have a lovely Christmas !! Thanks for stopping by!! 🙂

Thanks for the tip about mixing in the eggs. That is always my weakness in making Christmas cake. I have always found that the mixture splits when adding the eggs, but I was adding it in a thin stream within about 8-9 minutes (I thought that was long enough and my arms were aching from holding the handheld whisk). Now I see that it takes a substantially longer time to mix.

What would be the difference in cracking the eggs one by one and adding them straight from the shell? Also, I'm interested in how much feeding it takes to make a cake bitter from the alcohol? I've always stopped at a few tablespoons.

Ps - I've found there to be a massive difference in cooking time between different ovens. We have a range cooker with one big oven and one smaller. Time in smaller was 2hrs 43mins one year and 4hrs in the big oven this year! (My own recipe)

Thanks so much Dannii! Hope your cake turns out well and you find this post of some help 😊

Thanks Jasmin! I know - Christmas cake isn't top of most people's favourite desserts. It's taken a few years for me to get to a recipe that I really enjoy 😊