A Christmas Cake Recipe (2024)

For 25 years, Jim Gladders made the Christmas cakes for his family’s celebrations. Every October he would bake three traditional Christmas fruit cakes — one for each of his daughters and another for himself — then keep them in the refrigerator to mature until December 25.

“Mum used to ice the Christmas cake, but Dad never did,” remembers Paula Gladders, Jim’s eldest daughter. “He would serve it sliced with a chunk of cheddar cheese and a glass of brandy.”

Born in 1927 in Consett, a town in England’s County Durham, Jim served in the Royal Navy in the late 1940s.

“He said the basic cooking and sewing skills he learnt in the navy held him in good stead when Mum died and he had to fend for himself,” Paula says. “That was when Dad started cooking and it became quite a passion of his. He used to make scones and biscuits for other residents of the retirement home where he lived.”

How many weeks before Christmas should you make a Christmas cake?

It’s the age old question to which there is no definitive answer. It really depends upon the recipe you’re working with; some sources say you can get cracking as early as three months before Christmas, while others say six weeks will suffice. It’s all a bit of trial and error, but you certainly can make them well ahead of the big day, which is a huge time-saver.

Jim and his family migrated to Geelong in 1964, but his fondness for northern English food prevailed. He liked cooking specialties such as Yorkshire pudding, pan haggerty (potato, onions and cheese) and singin’ hinnies (a sweet griddle cake), and also made lots of pies and cheese scones.

Since her father passed away at the age of 84, Paula has been making his Christmas cake recipe with her granddaughters, Matilda and Olivia. “They always enjoy cooking with me and it’s a nice way for them to remember Pa Jim,” she says.

Can you mix alcohol in Christmas cake?

As in this recipe, alcohol is frequently used in Christmas cake recipes to add moisture and flavour. In cakes that are made well ahead, many recipes will suggest ‘feeding’ the cake with alcohol to keep them from drying out before the big day.

CHRISTMAS CAKE RECIPE

Serves 20

Ingredients

• 1½kg mixed dried fruit, such as sultanas, currants, mixed peel, glacé cherries

• ½ cup sherry, rum, whisky or brandy

• 1 Granny Smith apple, grated

• 1 tablespoon honey or golden syrup

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

• 4 eggs, lightly beaten

• 250g butter, melted, cooled

• 1½ cups plain flour

• ½ cup self-raising flour

• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• Extra 2 teaspoons sherry, rum, whisky or brandy, to brush

Preparation for your Christmas cake

• Preheat oven to 140°C.

• Grease a 23cm round or 20cm square cake pan, and line base and sides with 2 layers of baking paper.

Mix ingredients together

• Place mixed dried fruit in a large bowl. Add sherry, apple, honey, sugar and eggs, and stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up lumps of fruit, until well combined. Add cooled melted butter.

• Sift combined flours, mixed spice and ground ginger over fruit mixture, and stir until well combined, ensuring there are no flour bubbles.

• Spoon into prepared pan and smooth surface.

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Bake the Christmas cake

• Bake for 3–3½ hours or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.

• Remove from oven and brush top of cake with extra sherry. Cover tightly with foil and set aside to cool completely.

Store before serving your Christmas cake

• Turn out cake, leaving baking paper intact.

• Wrap in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for up to 2 months to develop flavours.