Last-Minute Traditional Christmas Cake, with Spelt (Alcohol-, Dairy-, and Gluten Free Option)

Happy 300th blog! And I thought that something befitting a celebration would be in order for this momentous post, so I bring you last-minute Christmas cake!

If any online article these days is to be believed, making a Christmas cake is a load of palaver: soak the fruit, bake the cake, store for three months feeding with alcohol, etc. In some respects it's off putting due to complexity, but it also leads people to believe that a Christmas cake can only be made three months in advance of the event, and there's no last minute option if you forgot to make your cake in September.

But fear not! A cake only needs to be made that far in advance if you plan to feed it with brandy or whiskey, and if you don't plan on doing that it can be made as soon as a week before Christmas. In fact, a Christmas cake made at any other time of year is just a very fruity fruit cake, which is a recipe found in nearly every cookery book published.

So, please, do not worry if you find yourself a week before Christmas without a cake: just follow this simple recipe. The only time consuming aspect of this cake is waiting for the fruit to soak overnight in tea and orange zest.

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DIFFICULTY

Lining the tin is a little fiddly, but the cake is very simple

TIME

4 hours, plus an overnight chill

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

For fruit preparation

1½ pounds (680 grammes) dried fruit: sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries, candied peel, candied ginger, currants, prunes, apricots, etc.

Juice and zest of an orange

Zest of a lemon

4floz strong black or earl grey tea, or sherry, brandy, whiskey, or spiced rum

For cake mixture

8 ounces (225 grammes) plain spelt flour, or gluten free plain flour

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) ground ginger

 ½ teaspoon (2½ millilitres) ground coriander

 ½ teaspoon (2½ millilitres) ground mixed spice

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitres) ground cloves

Pinch of salt

8 ounces (225 grammes) soft butter, or baking margarine

8 ounces (225 grammes) brown sugar

4 medium (US large) eggs, at room temperature

2 ounces (55 grammes) ground almonds

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FREE FROM

Spelt, yeast

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), nuts, refined sugar

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METHOD

First, prepare the fruit

• In a large saucepan, place the fruit, orange juice and zest, lemon zest, and tea (or spirits) and heat gently until it begins to simmer, stirring continuously. Once simmering, remove from the heat.
• Pour into a large glass bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover with cling film, and then allow to soak overnight.

The next day, make the cake

• Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F, Gas Mk.2), and grease and double-line a 9 inch (22 centimetre) round deep cake tin, about 3 inches (7½ centimetres) deep.
• Onto a large piece of baking paper, sieve the flour, the spices, and the salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the soft butter, or margarine, and sugar together very well with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Beat the eggs in a jug, and beat into the butter and sugar in several additions, beating for at least 30 seconds after each addition. It helps if you beat the eggs for a bit where they're added to the bowl before mixing around the whole bowl to fully incorporate the eggs.
• Beat in the ground almonds and a quarter of the flour mixture only until there is no more visible dry flour. Using a metal spoon for a silicone spatula, fold in all the fruit and any leftover soaking liquid.
• Sieve in the remaining flour and fold through thoroughly with the spoon or spatula, until there is no dry flour left and the mixture is smooth and soft. 
• Pour into the tin, and bake on the centre shelf for 2½ hours, or longer if needed. It'll be done when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out completely clean. If it's browning too quickly on top, cover with a layer of tin foil.
• Turn off the oven and cool down inside to room temperature. Once at room temperature, remove from the tin, and peel off all the paper.
• Store in an airtight container for 5 days before coating with marzipan and icing. 

STORAGE

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. This cake can also be frozen for up to a year: just wrap in a layer greaseproof paper, a layer of foil, then finally a double layer of cling film before freezing.