Christmas Cake


This isn't your average Christmas cake, it's packed with decadent goodies and not a yucky mixed, dried citrus peel in sight! I adapted this recipe from Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion

You will need...
225g sultanas, roughly chopped
225g dried cranberries (Craisins)
100g white chocolate chips
75g dried figs, chopped
80ml Captain Morgans Spiced Rum (any rum or brandy will do)
155g softened unsalted butter
60g chopped pecans (or walnuts)
90g plain flour
25g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cocoa powder
125g dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoon black treacle or golden syrup
whole blanched almonds or macadamias for decoration
Method...
1. Put dried fruit into a large glass or ceramic bowl with the rum/brandy. Soak overnight. 2. Next day, preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius (if you have a fan-forced oven, preheat it to 140 degrees celsius). Grease an 8inch deep round cake tin well with 20g of the butter and line with baking paper.
3. Sift the flour with baking powder and spices. Cream brown sugar and remaining butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and flour mixture alternately, then add soaked fruit, treacle, choc chips and pecans. Mix well.
4. Spoon mixture into prepared tin, flatten with a spatula and scoop centre into a slight hollow to allow for rising. Place whole almonds or macadamias in a circular pattern around edges of cake.
5. Bake for 90 minutes. Insert a fine skewer and, if it does not come out clean, reduce oven to 110′C and check again after 15 minutes.
6. When cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before turning out. Wrap cake in several layers of greaseproof paper and then in foil and store in an airtight cake tin until Christmas Day.
Divide the mixture into small cake tins and adjust the baking time by half so you can hand out mini cakes to your friends and family!
N.B. If you'd like to make a bigger cake, you can double the mixture, use a 14inch round pan, and double the cooking time.

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