British Cuisine 02: Jane's Christmas Cake

This traditional Christmas Cake recipe has been contributed by Jane RYDER. I've had it before in the past and it's very good!! Worth the time to make!

Jane’s Christmas Cake

Ingredients 375g unsalted butter 250g soft brown sugar 4 eggs 375g flour 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg 0.5 teaspoon ground mace 0.5 teaspoon ground cloves 250g raisins 250g sultanas 200g mixed peel 200g glace cherries 125g ground almonds grated peel of 2 oranges and 1 lemon 5 tablespoons orange liquor 5 tablespoons cognac Instructions Line a deep 25cm cake tin with several layers of greased greaseproof paper or greased baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 140°c. Cream the butter thoroughly, then beat in the sugar, followed by the eggs. Sieve the flour and spices and fold into the mixture. Add the other ingredients, stirring evenly. The mixture should have a stiff dropping consistency; if not stir in a little extra cognac. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 3.5 - 4 hours, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover the top with greaseproof paper during the latter stages of cooking if it is getting too brown. Allow to cool completely in the tin, then take it out, discard the paper, clean the tin and reline. Put the cake back in and skewer the cake from top to bottom all over, then ‘feed’ it with 5 tablespoons of alcohol, using the back of the spoon to encourage absorption. Wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and then in foil. Allow to mature in a cool dark place for 2 weeks, feeding once or twice more. Cover with almond paste and/or icing or decorate simply with Christmas tree baubles and ribbons. Jane’s hint I personally don’t feed the cake but rather soak all the dried fruit for two weeks in dark rum and Guinness before making the cake. This way the moisture is retained in the fruit during cooking and the cake can be kept for several weeks once it is baked. I then first put a thin coating of apricot jam al over so that the layer of almond paste will stick to the cake. I finish with a layer of white icing made with one egg white and lemon juice in order to cut down on the overall sweetness.

VOCABULARY

brown sugar - vergeoise

nutmeg - noix de muscade

mace - macis

clove - clou de girofle

raisin - raisin sec

sultana - raisin de Smyrne

mixed peel - mélange d'écorces

glace cherries - cerises confites

ground - moulu

grated peel - zeste

cake tin - moule à gâteau

greased - graissé

greaseproof - sulfurisé

to cream - travailler, battre

thoroughly - à fond, complètement

to sieve - tamiser

to fold in - incorporer

to stir - remuer, mélanger

stiff - raide, lourd

to spoon - utiliser un cuiller, une cuillère

skewer - brochette

to discard - jeter, se débarraser de

to reline - remettre

to feed - nourrir (ici arroser)

to wrap - emballer

to mature - vieillir

bauble - colifichet

ribbon - ruban

to soak - faire tremper

moisture - mouillure

retained - retenu, maintenu

baked - cuit

thin - fin, léger, maigre

coating - couche

layer - couche

to stick - coller

icing - glaçage

overall - global, général, d'ensemble

sweetness - suavité