Recipe: Christmas Cake - Stage 1

I followed this tasty looking recipe for my gorgeously tasty Christmas cake- the first I've ever made.

There are several stages to making the perfect Christmas Cake the cake, the feeding and the decorating.

I have never attempted a Christmas cake before but I thought if G and I were spending Christmas day at home together then, as my first year as a wife, I should make the effort this year.

Stage 1 - How I baked the cake:

Ingredients:

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• • 150 grams currants
  • 350 grams raisins
  • 50 grams glace cherries
  • 200ml cold earl grey tea
  • 75 grams chopped pecans
  • 150 grams butter
  • 90 grams soft brown sugar
  • 1 orange grated
  • 150 grams plain flour
  • 75 grams ground almonds
  • 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4tsp ground ginger
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon black treacle
  
  
  18cm round tin
  Temp 150C
  yield approx 12 slices
  
  
  
  

Method:

1. Place all of the dried fruit in the earl grey tea, stir and place  in the fridge over night.

2.Preheat oven to 150C and prepare tin.

3. Cream butter and sugar together then add orange zest.

4.Add eggs one at a time (adding tbsp if mixture starts to curdle) Beat in treacle.

5.Sift in dry ingredients, then mix this alternatively with the soaked fruit, into the creamed mixture. Fold in pecans.

6.Pour into prepared tin and bake in the oven, until a screwer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

7.Brush with more earl grey and wait until completely cold before turning out.

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