get ahead.
Stir it up with Rick & Hugh
Making the Christmas pudding and cake in plenty of time for the big day puts two ticks on your to-do list. Now add Rick Stein’s and Hugh F-W’s recipes to your family traditions and let the joy of anticipation begin
Rick ’s Christmas cake
Serves 12-16 Hands-on time 45 min, plus overnight soaking and cooling – then, later, overnight drying of the marzipan and icing Oven time 4 hours 15-30 min Specialist kit 20cm round deep-sided cake tin, fully lined (see ‘how to line the Christmas cake tin’ overleaf)
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHS: NASSIMA ROTHACKER. FOOD STYLING: PHIL MUNDY. STYLING: LAUREN MILLER
MAKE AHEAD
The cake will keep for several
weeks if you ‘feed’ it. Make the marzipan and cover the cake at
least a day before icing.
KNOW- HOW
The addition of glycerine to royal
icing prevents it setting rock hard when dry. The optional blue food colouring cancels out any yellow colour in the icing, giving an extra-white finish.
EASY SWAPS
If not eating the cake within a few
days of icing, use pasteurised egg whites instead of fresh in
the royal icing. You’ll find them in the chilled aisle of larger supermarkets.
• 175g sultanas
• 275g currants
• 175g raisins
• 50g glacé cherries, halved
• 50g mixed peel
• Grated zest 1 orange
• Grated zest 1 lemon
• 75ml brandy or sherry, or orange juice if you prefer
• 225g butter, softened
• 225g dark muscovado sugar
• 4 medium free-range eggs, beaten
• 225g plain flour
• 60g chopped mixed nuts or ground almonds
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• Brandy, sherry, port or rum for feeding (optional) →
Rick on cake and memories
“What I love about Christmas cake is feeding it with booze. I prefer using fortified wine because brandy or whisky are too strong, although last Christmas I used vintage port and my wife claimed you could get tipsy just from the smell of the cake. I’m a fan of proper marzipan and royal icing too. In the early days of our restaurant, I spent a winter on a cake-decorating course. I was the only man and all the women were unbelievably skilled. Why they were on the course, I don’t know. I still cringe at the memory that I chose to make a square Christmas cake, even though we all had turntables. As a beginner, if you ever think of making a square cake, don’t.”