Christmas Cake!

I made my Christmas Cakes (2) a couple of weeks ago, giving them lots of time to mature in flavour.  I'll be 'feeding' them with Jameson up to Christmas.  So I thought I'd share the recipe with you and some lovely pictures, if only you could smell the deliciousness!!

The recipe is from Mary Berry - the Queen of baking!  It's her Rich Christmas Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

• 175g (6 oz) raisins
• 350g (12 oz) glace cherries, rinsed, thoroughly dried and quartered
• 500g (1lb 2oz) currants
• 350g (12oz) sultanas
• 150ml (¼ pint) sherry, plus extra for feeding
• Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
• 250g (9oz) butter, softened
• 250g (9oz) light muscovado sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp black treacle
• 75g (3oz) blanched almonds, chopped
• 75g (3oz) self-raising flour
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• 1½ tsp mixed spice

So I weighed and measured and got to use my pretty pink bowl!

Here's the Method: 

1. Put all the dried fruit in a container, pour over the sherry - I used Jameson whiskey, you could use brandy if you prefer or orange juice if you don't want alcohol and stir in the orange zest. Cover with a lid, and leave to soak for 3 days, stirring daily - Ok I did not leave it for 3 days! 24 hours did me and I added a small teacup of strong tea. Grease and line a 23cm (9in) deep round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper - I used one round and one square. Preheat the oven to 140ºC/Fan 120ºC/Gas Mark 1.
2. Measure the butter, sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds into a very large bowl and beat well. Add the flours and mixed spice and mix thoroughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
3. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 4-4½ hours or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown - This may take near 5 hours that's what I found. Check after 2 hours, and, if the cake is a perfect colour, cover with foil (I didn't need to do this). A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
4. When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra sherry (I didn't do this, I prefer to wrap it and feed it a week later with more Jameson). Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil and store in a cool place for up to 3 months, feeding at intervals with more sherry. (Don't remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.)
5. Decorate with almond paste and royal icing. I'll be doing a post on this near Christmas :)
6. 
   

PICTURES!

 At this stage the smell was divine! the spices and zesty oranges and whiskey of course!

After baking for nearly 5 hours!

They are now tightly wrapped up and being fed weekly!

I'm making Christmas Puddings shortly so I'll post about them when the time comes.  

Enjoy,

M&Mmmmmmmmmmm's!!!

OH MY GOSH!  I just saw this on M&M's Ireland Facebook page and I HAD to share! I'm definitely going to make this in the near future!

M&M's... Putting the m's in Mmmmmmmm!

Recipe: Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake with M&Ms and Salted Pretzel Crust

For the crust:
200g crushed salted pretzels
2 tbsp caster sugar
175g salted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
400g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (120g) caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated

For the chocolate layer:
175g semisweet dark chocolate, finely chopped
70g (5 tbsp) salted butter, cubed
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (60g) icing sugar
1/2 cup thickened cream (min 35% milk fat), whipped to soft peaks
M&M's, to decorate

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 20cm springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Place pretzels in a food processor and pulse to a fine crumb. add sugar and melted butter and pulse to combine. Press mixture into the bottom of the prepared tin, pressing tightly into an even layer. Bake for 10 mins or until just going golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.


Reduce oven temperature to 160°C. In a large mixing bowl bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla and beat to combine. Add egg yolks; beat on low speed just until combined. In a small bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form then gently fold into cream cheese mixture. Pour over the crust, place tin on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at the reduced temperature for 25-30 minutes or until the centre is almost set. Cool in tin on a wire rack for an hour, then chill in the fridge until completely cool.

In a microwave in 30 second bursts, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Set aside to cool. In the meantime, place egg yolks and icing sugar in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and whisk mixture continuously (or it will turn into scrambled eggs) until it reaches 70°C, or for about 10 minutes mixture is thick and smooth. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 2 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Spread over cheesecake and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle m&ms on top to decorate then refrigerate until set. Remove sides of pan before serving. Can be stored in the fridge for several days.

Lemme know if you make it and how it goes :)