Posted in Recipes

We are moving into our house next week, but that is not stopping us from getting into the Christmas spirit. It is traditional here to have a Christmas cake which is a fruit cake. I think we must get it from our English ancestors. Alot of the cakes have alcohol in the recipe, but coming from a strict tee-totaller home, we'd rather not have it. My mother found this recipe years and years ago from a famous New Zealand cook, Alison Holst, and we've had it every year since I was a child. One year I tried to make a different type of cake, but it wasn't as good, so I always come back to the this one. I saw that Leanne over at TheGoodLife blogged the making of her Christmas cake, and I thought it would be fun to do that here too. Meredith (my 5 year old), and my son Hugh (7) had fun making it. I love the smell that fills the house while it's cooking.

So, if anyone wants to try a real traditional English Christmas cake, here is the best recipe I know - and with pictures too!

Pineapple Christmas Cake

8 ounces butter              6 eggs

1 cup white sugar           1 pound, 8 ounces sulatanas (725 gms)

1/2 tsp. vanilla essence    1 pound raisins (500 grams)

1/2 tsp. Almond essence   8 ounces currants (225 grams)

1/2 tsp. Lemon essence    2 ounces each of preserved ginger,

                              maraschino cherries (red or green),

                              and citrus peel (orange/lemon rind) (60 gms)

1 tsp. Cinnamon            2 ounces slivered Almonds

1 tsp. ground ginger       1 tsp. mixed spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg             1 cup drained crushed pineapple

3 cups plain flour

Method:

Line a 9 inch cake tin with 3 layers of newspaper on bottom and sides, and then baking paper on the top. Have sides higher than tin to prevent burning. (It can be a round or square tin - it doesn't matter so long as the sides are straight, so that the cake cooks evenly. Don't use an angel food cake tin)!

I cut the baking paper down to the same size as the newspaper.

Cream butter and sugar, add essences and spices. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.

(You will need a large bowl for this part). In a large bowl mix chopped cherries, peel, chopped ginger, slivered almonds and well drained pineapple to cleaned fruit. (I drain pineapple through a sieve and squish juice through with a spoon).

To clean fruit, I do it the old fashioned way my Nana taught me and that is to lay each measurement of each individual fruit into a sieve and wash under the cold running tap, then place onto a clean teatowel and pat dry. After each 'drying' add fruit to the bowl.

Mix creamed mixture into fruit, and add 3 cups of flour and stir well, until everything looks all mixed in.

Then spoon into prepared cake tin, patting down firmly as you do it. There will be more mixture than you need, but I usually go a little bit over the edge of the cake tin. The newspaper will hold it in. Make it nice and smooth on top and press a little hollow in the middle as the cake tends to rise in the middle while baking.

Put in oven at 300°F for 2 hours, then 250°F for 1 1/2 hours. Leave in tin for about 10 minutes before removing papers and laying on a coolling rack.

Finished Result:

This is a long blog - I hope it's useful to someone.It's fun to make anyway. We ice it with a delicious icing. I'll post that recipe tomorrow.