If you're after an easy Christmas cake recipe, you can't go wrong with this boil and bake version. The entire prep process only takes around 15min – and throws out the rule-book above, somewhat.
By cooking the fruit you don’t have to soak it. Adding the rest of the ingredients to the warm pan means the batter is preheated, so the cooking time is shorter.
This means no paper is needed around the outside of the tin, the fruit doesn’t sink and you don’t have to put a dip in the batter.
The cake is gloriously moist from the get-go too, so if you’re pushed for time, you don’t need to mature it either – simply feed it whilst hot from the oven, then once it’s cool, it’s ready to eat.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
30 - 35 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
2 hrs 15 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs 30 mins
Cal/Serv:
458
- 175 g (6oz) unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
- 500 g (1lb 2oz) each raisins and sultanas
- 100 g (3 1/2oz) each ready-to eat prunes, natural glacé cherries and stem ginger, chopped
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 150 ml (1/4pint) almond liqueur (we used Amaretto), plus extra to feed
- 175 g (6oz) dark brown muscovado sugar
- 100 g (3 1/2oz) blanched almonds, very roughly chopped
- 200 g (7oz) self-raising flour
- 1 tsp. each mixed spice and ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp each ground cloves and ground allspice
- 3 medium eggs, beaten
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan) mark 2. Grease, then line the base and sides of a 20.5cm (8in) deep round cake tin with baking parchment.
- Step 2
Put all the dried fruit and stem ginger into a very large pan with the lemon zest and almond liqueur. Heat the pan until the liqueur at the bottom begins to boil, then cook on a medium heat for 5min, stirring frequently until the fruit absorbs the liquid. Add butter and sugar and heat gently to melt, stirring occasionally to help dissolve the sugar.
- Step 3
Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool for 5min. Stir in the almonds, flour, spices and beaten eggs and mix well. Immediately pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface (there's no need to make a dip in the mixture).
- Step 4
Bake the cake for 1hr 45min-2hr or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cover the cake with foil if it is browning too quickly.
- Step 5
Leave cake to cool completely in the tin. When cool, remove from tin (leaving on parchment paper). Wrap a few layers of clingfilm around the cake in its paper, then cover with foil. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. After two weeks of maturing, prick the top of the cake all over with a skewer and sprinkle over 1tbsp almond liqueur. Re-wrap and store as before.
- Step 1
Feeding your cake
The Christmas cake will keep for up to three months stored in this way. It can be fed with more almond liqueur every week if you like, although if you prefer a less sweet cake, every few weeks is fine. Chill the dried fruit in the fridge first before you make your cake - you'll find it much easier to chop. Alternatively, pulse the fruit in a food processor.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 458
- Total carbs: 79 g
- Sugars: 69 g
- Total fat: 14 g
- Saturated fat: 6 g
The best Christmas cake recipes - from fig and ginger to gin & tea, there's something for everyone
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time