Honey saffron Christmas cake

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• 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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• Essexclarkey

  06 February 2008

  Essexclarkey 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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• linsdindins

  31 March 2008

  linsdindins commented on this recipe

  made this like the recipe,i make a xmas cake every year, but this was the best ever.Everyone loved it.Did take longer to cook which was a bit worrying at the time in case it dried out.It did'nt.

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Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 225g butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
• 2 tbsp brandy
• pinch saffron (about 1⁄4tsp strands)
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 225g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 300g raisins
• 300g sultanas
• 100g natural-coloured glacé cherries , halved
• 85g mixed peel
• 50g whole blanched almonds , roughly chopped
• 50g whole blanched hazelnuts , roughly chopped
• 50g walnuts pieces

TO SOAK

• 3 tbsp brandy
• 2 tbsp honey

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Difficulty and servings

Cuts into 12 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 30 mins

Cook 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

• 225g butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
• 2 tbsp brandy
• pinch saffron (about 1⁄4tsp strands)
• 225g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 225g plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 300g raisins
• 300g sultanas
• 100g natural-coloured glacé cherries , halved
• 85g mixed peel
• 50g whole blanched almonds , roughly chopped
• 50g whole blanched hazelnuts , roughly chopped
• 50g walnuts pieces

TO SOAK

• 3 tbsp brandy
• 2 tbsp honey

Per serving

613 kcalories, protein 9g, carbohydrate 82g, fat 28 g, saturated fat 11g, fibre 3g, sugar 67g, salt 0.6 g

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