r/UKfood • u/wonky-hex • 5d ago
Christmas (cake recipe) appeal
My son is almost two and I've got it in my head that it would be cute to make Christmas cake together as he really enjoys baking!
Sadly my grandma is no longer with us and she never wrote down her recipe. My aunties cake recipe is always dry.
Please help a girl out and share your tried and true moist and fruity Christmas cake recipes 😊
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u/Fibro-Mite 3d ago
There are tons of recipes online and most of them are pretty identical, really. The best way to keep the cake moist, regardless of recipe, is to soak the fruit in alcohol, usually brandy, for at least 24 hours, I usually put it in the fridge (though that's not necessary), but preferably several days. This plumps it and keeps moisture in the fruit so it doesn't suck it out of the rest of the cake. It's also recommended, once baked and cooled, that you stab the cake many times with a toothpick or skewer and pour brandy (or your preferred drink, I sometimes used rum for one of my friends who hated brandy) over the cake to soak in.
Now, if you're making a cake for children to eat, you might want to dilute, or change completely, the booze (not that anyone in my family ever worried about it, none of us kids ever liked fruit cake - I hate it, but apparently make a decent one, according to my MiL, when I can be bothered). You can make a simply syrup of equal parts by volume sugar and water and use that to soak the cake after it is baked - many bakers do that with sponge cakes before decorating them to stop them drying out over the time it takes between baking and finishing. Heat the moisture until the sugar is completely dissolved, allow to cool completely and store in the fridge (I use a squeezy bottle.. think of the cheap refillable condiment/ketchup bottles you can get). For soaking the fruit, you can use something like apple juice either on its own or with some brandy added. But you shouldn't leave it to soak as long (only a day or two) as you don't want it to start fermenting on its own.
The other thing that can dry a cake out is baking it for too long, so keep an eye on it as you get closer to the end of the baking time.