Honey saffron Christmas cake

Has all the flavours of Christmas without being too heavy and can be made at the last minute too

Recipe uploaded by

Jane Hornby

12 ratings

Recipe by Jane Hornby

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Tested

Difficulty and servings

Cuts into 12 slices

Preperation and cooking times

Prep 30 mins

Cook min 2 hrs 30 mins

Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a round, deep 20cm cake tin with two layers of baking parchment (see Knowhow, below). Tie a few sheets of newspaper around the outside of the tin, level with the top of the baking parchment.
Heat the brandy in a small pan, then add the saffron and leave to infuse off the heat for a few mins. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, then beat together until creamy and smooth. Mix the fruit, nuts and brandy saffron mix into the batter and stir well.
Spoon into the prepared tin, smooth the top and make a slight dip in the middle. Bake for 1½ hrs, then cover loosely with foil to stop the top over-browning. Turn oven down to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 and cook for 1 hr more until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then, while it's still warm, prod the cake all over with a skewer.
Mix the brandy and honey together and spoon over the cake. Wrap up well in foil and keep in an airtight container until Christmas, feeding with more honeyed brandy every so often.

Jane says...

If you like a lighter cake at Christmas, then my honey saffron cake is for you. It's still full of fruit and nuts but rather than being heavy with treacle and spice, there's golden sugar and delicate saffron, which shine through in the amber colour and scented flavour. Honey and saffron are natural partners so I've drenched it in a boozy honey syrup, too! You can repeat the soaking part of the recipe twice more if you want a more intense flavour.

Per serving

613 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 82g, fat 28 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 3g, salt 0.6 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2007.

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

Jane Lewis

02 December 2007

Jane Lewis commented on this recipe

Hi jools I think the icing is "Classic winter fruitcake" Jane

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ASF

03 December 2007

ASF rated and commented on this recipe

This is an awesome recipe! Definitely stick to using a 20 cm tin. Mine turned out perfectly.

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Adriana

08 December 2007

Adriana commented on this recipe

I just made it this afternoon but it took 4 hours to bake. After 2 and a half hours the test skewer was still very wet. I hope I haven't over-baked it now. This is the first time I've ever baked a Christmas cake so I'm very nervous about the results. Do you keep the cake in the tin until serving day?

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thwaite

11 December 2007

thwaite commented on this recipe

Is it ok to marzipan? - it just isnt christmas cake otherwise but I really want to try this one out

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janeykuchen

22 December 2007

janeykuchen commented on this recipe

I also had to bake the cake for a total of nearly four hours as the times given left the cake virtually liquified in the tin!! It appears o.k. now and I've been feeding it honey and brandy for the last two weeks ,it smells delicious and the texture appears to be alright I'll let you know if my extra baking was a success or not.

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janeykuchen

22 December 2007

janeykuchen rated this recipe

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Christina

26 December 2007

Christina commented on this recipe

This war my first fruit cake - like a dream come true baking event and I dared to changesome of the ingredients: instead of 300g sultaninas I added dried pinapple, coconut, left out the lemon peel but doubled the orange peel quantity. I also added cranberries. Then, as I didn't have brandy I tried grand marnier - fed it twice and served it on the next day by warming the slices up and adding some whipped cream - it was the most delicous cake I ever ate in my whole life! Regarding baking time - the indicated time war perfect for my mixture!

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Jennifer T

29 December 2007

Jennifer T rated and commented on this recipe

Although I didn't have too many problems cooking the cake, or feeding it!, it did turn out rather denser and moister than I'd expected - I wouldn't call it a "lighter cake". The saffron definitely came through - so if you don't like saffron, don't make this one!

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secretary83

29 December 2007

secretary83 commented on this recipe

Beautiful cake, moist and light. Everybody commented on it. Easily made too.

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Cakey77

05 January 2008

Cakey77 rated and commented on this recipe

I made this last minute as my Christmas Cake and it was gorgeous. Would definately make it again next year. It did need longer cooking time than what was indicated but I just kept an eye on it and took it out once the skewer came out dry.

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janeykuchen

17 January 2008

janeykuchen commented on this recipe

The cake was absolutely delicious.Everyone who had a piece (or 3) commented on the lighter colour and density,although it was still 'heavy' enough to be a traditional Christmas cake! It did not seem to have suffered from the extra oven time, on the contrary I think it may well have been a disaster if I had stucj rigidly to the cooking times quoted.

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goodfood

18 January 2008

goodfood commented on this recipe

This cake was a great success. I have a 2 oven Aga and I put in the bottom oven from cold at about 11pm and just left it overnight. The next morning it was perfectly cooked. I intend making another for Easter and experimenting with a layer of marzipan in the middle.

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lostkat

26 January 2008

lostkat rated and commented on this recipe

Went down a storm with the family, and this was my first ever Christmas Cake too!! Very very easy to make, although it really does improve with age/feeding.

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cutielou

04 February 2008

cutielou rated and commented on this recipe

Unfortunately for me this cake was incredibly sweet, so I won't be doing this one again. I also found it took much longer to cook sufficiently too.

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la_mac

06 February 2008

la_mac rated and commented on this recipe

My partner made this last minute and fell asleep while it was baking! Still moist enough to get away with just removing the dark edges and it didn't seem to affect the taste. I shall have a go this Christmas

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miss_naj

07 February 2008

miss_naj commented on this recipe

We are still tucking in to this easy peasy cake. I fed mine with a mix of honey and orand/cranberry juice as most Christmas cakes are very boozey and I wanted one that everyone could enjoy. It turned out really lovely and a refreshing change from the usual dark cake mixture.

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miss_naj

07 February 2008

miss_naj rated and commented on this recipe

We are still tucking in to this easy peasy cake. I added dried cranberried to mine. I fed mine with a mix of honey and orange/cranberry juice as most Christmas cakes are very boozey and I wanted one that everyone could enjoy. It turned out really lovely and a refreshing change from the usual dark cake mixture.

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Anne Magee

12 February 2008

Anne Magee commented on this recipe

This was the most beautiful cake I have ever made - very easy to make and the honeyed brandy (which I doused the cake in about 3-4 times over about 10 days) gave it a wonderful flavour. It took over 4 hours to cook - but it will be my speciality every year from now on. It was devoured in no time.....didn't actually last until Christmas Day!

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Anne Magee

12 February 2008

Anne Magee rated this recipe

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Tina

22 February 2008

Tina rated this recipe

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