Cake seventeen - Xmas Fruit cake - 2013

Get inspired

This cake’s undoubtedly another Xmas must have! It’s quite easy to make, but pay attention to the right baking time, Anyway it’s better to bake a little bit longer so that flavours can blend together well. Then the longer you store it the nicer it smells and tastes - one month is a good period of time, in my opinion Storing time does make the difference! I think you should try it yourself. I do love this cake, you can make it in any shape: my favourite moulds for Xmas are trees or stars, whether smaller or bigger, but if you use a square or round pan it looks traditional and if you put a ribbon around it and a decoration in the middle, something like a Xmas tree candle holder it looks quite elegant and original. 

But this cake hides another secret! You can change some of the ingredients and there you have another cake! The original recipe is with candied fruit, raisins and almonds, but I never put almonds - we don’t like them much - and use chocolate instead! And for chocolate lovers use white and dark chocolate without candied fruit or raisins. It taste delicious, believe me!

for recipe see cake seventeen 

http://time-for-cake-making.blogspot.it/2012/12/cake-seventeen-christmas-fruit-cake.html

As you see, this year, I decorated the big Xmas tree in green with little red Xmas balls using cream cheese frosting and tiny chocolate rounds. 

Cream cheese frosting

green food colouring 

300 g cream cheese or mascarpone

200 g icing sugar

Mix cream cheese and icing sugar together until they’re well blended together. Add as much green colouring as to reach the shade you like. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Red Xmas balls

100 g White chocolate

red food colouring.

Melt white chocolate over a bain maire. Cool it. Add some red colouring until you get the shade you want. Pipe small rounds on baking paper or better on a silicon baking mat. Refrigerate.

also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2013/12/xmas-fruit-cake-2013.html

Cake seventeen - Christmas Fruit Cake

Get inspired

This is undoubtedly my favourite cake! It’s good, easy to make and can take any shape you want. I usually make three or more of them for Christmas: a square one decorated as a gift, a star, a Christmas tree and smaller ones in the shape of trees, stars or snow flakes.You can make it one month ahead, you only have to wrap it up well in aluminum foil and then decorate it the day you need it. The longer you keep it wrapped, the better all the ingredients blend together.                         

In my family, we love to have the smaller Fruit Cakes at breakfast during the whole Christmas holidays. 

I also make some smaller ones with margarine as my daughter is intolerant to lactose and they taste delicious anyway!

250 g butter

250 g sugar

5 eggs

juice and rind of 1 lemon

2 cl rhum or vermouth

250 g flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamom

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

150 g cherry candies

400 g raisins

100 g.  finely cut candied oranges

100 g. finely cut candied cedar

100 g chocolate chips

(if you don’t like candied fruit you can put more chocolate)

Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with electrtic mixer until creamy, and white. Add eggs one at a time and don’t forget some flour after each addition. Beat in rest of flour cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins, cherry candies, candied oranges and cedar and chocolate chips. 

Pour mixture into lightly greased mould. Bake at 180° for 1 hour or more depending on the size of mould. 

Decoration

You can decorate the cake as you like or simply leave it without any decoration, as it looks nice too. It all depends the day you’re making it for. 

For Xmas Day I like it all white (glacé or royal icing- at your choice) or all black (ganache).

Glacé icing

320 g icing sugar

1 teaspoon butter

2 tablespoons hot water, approximately

Sift icing sugar into small heatproof bowl, Stir in butter and enough of the hot water to make it a thick paste. Place bowl over small saucepan of simmering water. Stir until icing is spreadable

Royal icing

240 g icing sugar

1 egg white

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Lightly beat egg white in small bowl with electric mixe, add icing sugar a tablespoon at a time. When icing reaches frim peaks, beat inn juice.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

200 g dark chocolate, chopped coarsely

125 ml cream

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat. When bubbles subside, add chocolate. Stir until smooth.

also visit: http://time-for-a-cake.blogspot.it/2012/12/cake-seventeen.html