THE MCMEEL FAMILY IRISH CHRISTMAS CAKE
THERE ARE COUNTLESS PERSONAL RECIPES for Irish Christmas Cake, all with tiny variations on the theme. If you asked an Irishman to describe Christmas Cake, he’d paint a picture of what his gran and mum laid out: an extra handful of nuts here, dried cranberries substituted for sultanas there, frosted or naked. Here’s the version that fills my head with visions of festive paper crowns, loud crackers, gaily wrapped presents, and family crammed in around the farm table.
Christmas cakes are always rich, spicy, toothsome cakes stuffed to bursting with nuts and fruit, which are traditionally baked at least eight weeks before the holiday and then “fed” brandy, whiskey, or other spirits as the Advent calendar windows are peeled back in preparation for the feast day.
The final pastry will often have both marzipan and white icing or royal icing. Or, you can refer to my instructions for setting your dessert ablaze (see page 304), then glazing it with sweet, fragrant butter sauce (see Honeyed Whiskey Butter, page 34).
A word to the wise: This one is not a “whiz it in a mixer, bake, and serve” cake, and it’s even more labor intensive if you plan to frost it or wrap it in sheets of marzipan. It is a big project, but it’s worth the trouble, and no Irish Christmas would feel festive without one, and the sighs of pleasure it evokes.
You can buy mixed spice in a bottle, but I think it’s more fun to fashion your own. My mixed spice is made from nearly equal amounts of baking spices: ground allspice, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. You need only use those that strike your fancy.
Some people (especially children) don’t like candied peel. If it doesn’t appeal, leaving it out won’t ruin the recipe, nor will adding in any dried fruit that you prefer, such as dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots.
MAKES
16 TO 20 SERVINGS
12 ounces / 340 grams sultanas
8 ounces / 225 grams raisins
12 ounces / 340 grams dried currants
4 ounces / 115 grams glacé cherries, halved
2 ounces / 55 grams mixed candied peel, chopped
½ teaspoon mixed ground spice (see recipe headnote)
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
½ large tart apple, peeled, cored, and chopped finely
1 heaping cup / 140 grams slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon honey
¼ cup / 60 grams Irish whiskey, plus more for basting
20 ounces (2½ sticks) / 300 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for buttering pan
1½ cups / 270 grams dark brown sugar, packed
5 large eggs
2½ cups / 300 grams all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
The day before you start your baking, combine the sultanas, raisins, currants, glacé cherries, candied peel, mixed spice, vanilla, orange zest and juice, apple, almonds, honey, and whiskey in a large bowl and mix lightly, then cover and allow the mixture to blend overnight.
DAY TWO:
The next day, just before you intend to bake, line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch / 23-centimeter round cake pan carefully with parchment paper (don’t use waxed paper) coated with butter. Allow the paper tower up a little over the top of the pan, making the pan’s walls just a little taller.
Next, lay down 3 layers of brown paper or grocery sacks, in the shape of a long rectangle about 3 times as long as your pan, as if you were going to wrap a present. Wrap this paper around the outside of the pan and tie it securely in place with kitchen twine, making the pan’s walls about 3 times their height. The whole effect is like a paper tube into which you can look down to see the batter in the pan.
Now, cut another piece of parchment, about the size of the cake pan, fold it in half, then cut a square about the size of the pan. Using kitchen shears, cut a 1½-inch / 3-centimeter-wide cross in the middle of the paper. (When the paper is folded in half, it is easiest to cut out a T shape, which will look like a cross when it’s unfolded.)
Preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C.
Using an electric mixer on high speed, cream together the butter and brown sugar for about 10 minutes, until smooth and dark yellow. Beat the eggs in a small bowl, then add them a bit at a time, beating thoroughly between each addition to prevent curdling.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt together, then fold lightly into the wet mixture, using a spatula. Add the soaked fruit that was set aside and mix lightly.
A little at a time, scoop the mixture—which should be stiff and slightly sticky—into the lined cake pan, smoothing with a rubber spatula dipped in water as you work. Make sure the batter is higher at the edges of the pan than at the middle. Without pressing it into the batter, place the square of paper with the cross-shape cut in it loosely on top.
Bake the cake on the middle rack for 3½ hours. As with a pot of rice, it’s tempting to sneak a peek to check on the progress, but don’t: Resist the urge to open the oven door.
After the time elapses, remove the cake from the oven to test it by inserting a metal skewer or butter knife into the middle of the cake: if it emerges dry, the cake is done: if not, put it back in the oven for another 30 minutes. It can take up to 4 hours, or even more. Check the cake every 30 minutes or so, until the skewer or knife comes out clean. When the cake is done, set the whole pan on a cooling rack to cool overnight, covered loosely with a clean tea towel.
DAY THREE:
Remove the cake from the pan by gently passing a butter knife between the cake pan and the lining paper, then slowly and carefully lift out the cake, peeling off the paper. Turn the cake upside down and pierce it eight times with a large fork. Pour a teaspoon of whiskey into each hole and let the overflow soak into the cake in its own time. Repeat this feeding process every 10 days or so until Christmas Day, shooting to “feed” about 5 times. This cake keeps for a very long time (no surprise, with all that liquor!) if it is carefully wrapped. In between feedings, wrap the cake tightly in brown paper or grocery sacks, and tape it shut. Then wrap the paper-covered cake in foil and put the whole thing into an airtight tin or plastic cake keeper, if you have one. If not, the foil should do nicely, if tightly wrapped. Each time you feed the cake, rewrap the cake meticulously.
The day before serving (or if you plan to cover with marzipan and icing, one week before serving):
Some eat this cake as is, or with a simple sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar. My family liked ours buttered or set alight and finished with Honeyed Whiskey Butter (page 34). Traditionally, it’s finished with royal icing covering a layer of marzipan. If you choose to go this route, start the marzipan at least a week before the big dinner, and the icing a day or two before, because they take some time and effort. Then, the decorations are up to your family! You can pipe icing onto the cake, writing a Christmas message or your family’s surname; you can color the marzipan to make leaves, holly berries, and yule logs; or you can use family heirloom Santa, reindeer, or Holy Cross ornaments and push them gently into the icing.
