Ginger & orange Christmas cake

Ginger & orange Christmas cake

This cake doesn't just look good, it tastes amazing too

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

1½ hrs, 3½ hrs in the oven, up to 2 days soaking

Method

  1. Soak the dried and glacé fruit in the alcohol and Angostura bitters for up to 2 days.
  2. Heat the oven to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1. Line an 18cm square or 20cm round cake tin with 2 layers of baking parchment. Beat the sugar and butter together then sift in the flour and spices and mix briefly. Add the vanilla, almonds, eggs, orange zest and the fruit and alcohol mix and stir together. Spoon into the tin and make a dip in the centre with the back of a spoon so that when the cake rises in the middle you get a flat top. Bake for 3-31/2 hours then cool in the tin in the oven.
  3. Peel off the paper and brush off any crumbs, then brush the top with the jam. Roll out the marzipan on a work surface dusted with cornflour until it is big enough to cover the cake. Lift it over the cake using a rolling pin and smooth down all the way around. Trim any excess. Brush with vodka, then roll out the icing and cover in the same way. Trim the icing around the edges and neaten. Roll out the icing off-cuts and cut out different sized stars, brush with a little vodka and stick to the cake. Finish with a ribbon.

Per serving

924 kcalories, protein 10.5g, carbohydrate 156.2g, fat 29.9 g, saturated fat 12.4g, fibre 3.4g, salt 0.57 g

Recipe from olive magazine, December 2007.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 09 February 2008

    Antonia commented on this recipe

    Just a quick comment about the decoration of this cake - I copied the idea, but rubbed edible silver lustre over half of the stars. It looked really stunning! I am totally un-artistic but everyone thought the design was very stylish. I finished the whole thing off with a silver ribbon. Thank you Good Food for the idea!

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  • 02 November 2008

    Hilary commented on this recipe

    Am looking forward to making this as my Christmas cake. Any suggestions as to how long in advance I could make this, maybe feeding it from time to time with vodka, wrapped up in a tin?

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  • 13 November 2008

    HayleyGrice commented on this recipe

    Hilary - the recipe reads like any other fruit cake, so I would suggest it'll be fine sat in a dark cupboard well wrapped from now until Christmas. I plan to make mine this weekend and do just that (finishing at step 2) and then put marizipan and icing on a couple of days before we plan to eat it.

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  • 14 November 2008

    bristela commented on this recipe

    I would like to make this cake, but firts let me know what mixed peel means ?

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  • 15 November 2008

    kizmax commented on this recipe

    ok just made mine !! looks good haven't done the decoration part have wrapped in tinfoil and is in the cupboard will feed it each week .... yumm roll on christmas

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  • 24 November 2008

    HayleyGrice commented on this recipe

    Hi Bristela - are you based in the UK? As every supermarket sells ready chopped mixed peel in their baking aisle - its like little pieces of orange and lemon peel which have been sugar treated. It's not expensive. I know the recipe speaks of chopping whole ones, but whole pieces are harder to find.

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  • 04 December 2008

    marialk commented on this recipe

    My 8 year old niece "allowed" me to help her make this cake for Christmas a couple of weeks ago. It really turned out well, or at least it LOOKS appetising. However what I'd like to know is, can I feed it with a little more ginger wine and cointreau or should I just use vodka. I don't intend using marzipan to finish the cake as none of our family likes it. I'm just going to use the vodka to brush over the cake before putting the icing on directly.

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  • 19 November 2009

    Dilly commented on this recipe

    Didn't change anything - made it for Christmas last year and absolutely loved it. Will be making it again this year.

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  • 25 September 2011

    Lynn rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Easy to make, smells divine and expectations of it tasting divine are high. However, don't trust the cooking time. Any more than 2 hours (depending on your oven) is going to see it burn. Just about to make another for a friend :-)

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  • 25 September 2011

    Lynn commented on this recipe

    http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/how-to-line-a-cake-tin.html Scroll down on this page (Delia Smith) to see how to protect a christmas cake from overcooking.

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  • 21 November 2011

    marylou commented on this recipe

    I made this cake this weekend. Normally I end up with a very dark outside with the middle just cooked. So this time I cooked it at a slightly lower heat but for longer. It is well cooked all the way through but not burnt on the outside!

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  • 26 December 2011

    Rozie Samus rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    can't quite remember it well as was about 5years ago but so glad have stumbled upon it - have been searching for recipe ever since so must've been divine!!!

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

1½ hrs, 3½ hrs in the oven, up to 2 days soaking

Ingredients

  • 600g currants , sultanas and raisins
  • 100g glacé cherries
  • 50g mixed peel (chop a couple of whole ones if you can)
  • 50g glacé ginger or crystallised ginger , roughly chopped
  • 100g glacé or diced pineapple , roughly chopped
  • 60ml Cointreau or Grand Marnier
  • 60ml ginger wine
  • 2 tbsp Angostura bitters (the orange version is good)
  • 225g light muscovado sugar
  • 250g butter , softened
  • 225g plain flour
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ of a whole nutmeg , grated
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 100g whole blanched almonds
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 orange , zested

DECORATION

  • 2 tbsp apricot jam , mixed with 1 tbsp water and sieved
  • 500g marzipan
  • cornflour for rolling
  • 4 tbsp vodka
  • 500g ready-rolled fondant icing
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Per serving

924 kcalories, protein 10.5g, carbohydrate 156.2g, fat 29.9 g, saturated fat 12.4g, fibre 3.4g, salt 0.57 g

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