http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;鈥?/a>Is there such a thing as a Christmas cake. and if there is can you give me the recipe?
Decadent Chocoholic's Christmas Cake
Ingredients:
鈥?2/3 cup butter
鈥?8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
鈥?4 eggs
鈥?1 cup sugar (can use slightly less - depends on how sweet you prefer it) 1/2 cup flour (can use slightly less, depending on how moist you prefer it) 1 teaspoon baking powder
鈥?4 tablespoons cocoa powder
鈥?1 teaspoon vanilla extract
鈥?1/4 sour cream (can substitute with natural yoghurt)
鈥?2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
鈥?9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
鈥?Finely chopped toasted nuts such as pecans, or flaked coconut (Optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas mark 4. Line a circular 9 inch cake tin with greaseproof or non-stick paper and grease the tin. 2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over hot water. Stir gently until smooth. 3. Beat the eggs with the sugar, and then stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and vanilla extract. 4. Fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture gradually. Then fold in the sour cream. 5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 6. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting. 7. To make frosting: Heat the 2/3 cup of whipping/heavy cream in a saucepan, then stir in the 9 ounces of chopped chocolate until smooth. If too thick, add more cream, if too thin, add more chocolate. Frost the cake, and then add optional chopped nuts or coconut if desired.Is there such a thing as a Christmas cake. and if there is can you give me the recipe?
At long last the information you have all been waiting for. The first thing to note is that I learned to cook while in Britain and so all dry measures are by weight not cups. I actually have a humorous story as a consequence of this. When I moved to the US I shipped my possessions in several large boxes that had to pass through customs. When I went to pick them up the only item in the inventory list that customs asked about was the weighing scales I used for cooking. Not understanding how people measured here I replied in a puzzled fashion ';cooking of course!'; . It was only later that I realized that the main reason for having a scale capable of measuring small quantities in the US is perceived to be for drug related activities! Incidentally those boxes also contained a target bow and arrows for Olympic style archery that raised no queries whatsoever! (For those that may not know I captained the team that won the British University championships and was also the Scottish Universities Archery Champion for several years.) Any way on with the recipe:
Ingredients
* Raisins 2-1/4 lb.
* Currants 1 lb.
* Dates, stoned and chopped 6 oz.
* Cooked prunes, stoned and chopped 4 oz.
* Almond flakes 8 oz.
* Butter 14 oz.
* Raw brown sugar 14 oz.
* Eggs 8
* Grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
* Black treacle 1 tablespoon (Americans can substitute molasses if they can't find treacle)
* Flour 1 lb.
* Salt 1 teaspoon
* 1 teaspoon each of : ground nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon %26amp; ginger
* Sherry 5 tablespoons
Instructions
Grease and line a 10 inch round cake tin with a double thickness of greaseproof paper. Wrap a double layer thickness of brown paper around the outside of the tin and secure with string. I usually make sure the paper is twice as high as the depth of the cake pan.
Combine the raisins, currants, dates, prunes and almonds in a large bowl. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the lemon and or the black treacle. If the mixture looks like it is starting to curdle stir in a little flour. Mix together the flour, salt and spices. Fold the flour mixture and the fruit mixture into the batter mixture a little at a time alternating between the flour and fruit mixtures. Stir in the sherry and ensure everything is well blended.
Note that I have always done all of this by hand and the mixture gets very stiff and hard to work near the end - a strong wrist is required. Traditionally all the members of the family take turns in stirring the cake and each makes a wish while doing so. This last Christmas some friends who had enjoyed some of the cake the previous year decided to make some but they chose to use an electric mixer - at the end of the process their cake mix had a different consistency and the finished cake cooked a little differently as I did not taste their cake I can not say if there was a difference in taste.
Put the mixture into the cake tin being careful not to create any air holes and remembering to smooth the top surface before placing the cake in the oven. Bake in the oven at 300F for 1 hour and then reduce the heat to 275F and cook for a further 4 hours. If the top starts to over brown then cover with greaseproof paper. When you remove the cake from the oven leave it in the cake tin and allow to cool overnight - the cake can stay warm for up to 24 hrs. When cool remove from the tin and wrap in a double layer of aluminum foil until it is decorated. Occasionally unwrapping and treating with sherry or an alcohol of your choosing can ensure a moist flavorful cake but be careful not to overdo this and create a soggy cake! The cake will improve with keeping.
Decorating
The traditional method of decorating a Christmas cake is with almond paste or marzipan and Royal icing. You will need about 2 lb of marzipan to cover the cake. Place the cake on the cake plate on which it will be presented. Roll the marzipan out as thinly as possible and cover the top and sides of the cake. A thin layer of strawberry jam spread over the cake will help to 'glue' the marzipan to the cake.
To make the Royal Icing sift 12 oz. of icing sugar (confectioner's sugar for Americans) into a bowl. Beat two egg whites then fold them into the sugar. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Brush the marzipan with a little egg white to help the icing stick to the cake then add the icing in a thin layer. The icing can be thickened if necessary with additional icing sugar. A flat metal spatula dipped in hot water will help to spread the icing but in general best results are obtained if the icing is 'worked' as little as possible.
Has anyone ever told you your not all there?
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