Christmas Honey Cake

Christmas Honey Cake

Easy recipe for a rich, moist honey cake: perfect with a cuppa. Coffee And Tea.Winter Special.

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves Serves 8

Ingredients

• 170 g / 6 oz clear honey
• 140 g / 5 oz butter
• 85 g / 3 oz light Muscovy sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 200 g/7 oz self raising flour, sieved
• water

For the icing

• 55 g / 2 oz icing sugar
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• hot water
  

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / 350  F/Gas 3 and butter and line the bottom of a 7 in / 18 cm cake tin.
2. Measure the honey, butter and sugar into a large pan. Add a tablespoon of water and heat gently until melted.
3. Remove from the heat and mix in the eggs and flour.
4. Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the cake is springy to the touch and shrinking slightly from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
6. While the cake is still warm, make the icing by mixing the sugar and honey together with 2 to 3 teaspoons of hot water. Trickle over the cake in whatever design takes your fancy.
   

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Christmas Chocolate fruit cake Dcheif

Christmas Chocolate fruit cake Dcheif 

The prunes in this easy Christmas cake ensure that it is dark, moist and squidgy - but what makes it really special is the chocolate.

Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cooking time 1 to 2 hours

Serves Serves 12

Ingredients

• 350g/12oz dried soft prunes, chopped
• 250g/9oz raisins
• 125g/4oz currants
• 175g/6oz unsalted butter, softened
• 175g/6oz dark muscovado sugar
• 175ml/6fl oz honey
• 125ml/4fl oz coffee liqueur
• 2 oranges, juice and zest only
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tbsp good quality cocoa
• 3 free-range eggs, beaten
• 150g/5¼oz plain flour
• 75g/2½oz ground almonds
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• For decoration
• 25g/1oz dark chocolate covered coffee beans
• Disco Gold hologram glitter
• 2mm gold mini balls
• approx 10 gold stars
  

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas mark 2.
2. Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm/8in, 9cm/3½in deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of bake-o-glide or other reusable silicon-baking parchment. When lining the tin with the bake-o-glide, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it’s easier to use two shorter strips of bake-o-glide, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin.
3. Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Then remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined.
5. Carefully pour the fruit cake mixture into the bake-o-glide lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1¾-2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a cake tester into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle.
6. Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin.
7. To decorate, place the chocolate covered coffee beans in the center of the cake and arrange the gold starts around the perimeter of the top of the cake. Then sprinkle some gold mini-balls over the whole of the cake. Sprinkle the Disco Gold Hologram Glitter over the top of the cake.
   

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Christmas Coffee & Walnut Cake

Christmas Coffee & Walnut Cake

The classic combo is made extra sumptuous with mascarpone frosting - a traditional sponge for cake sales and parties
PREP: 45 MINS
COOK: 30 MINS
plus cooling
EASY Cooking 
Serving
CUTS INTO 10 SLICES
Coffee & walnut cake
Coffee & walnut cake
12345(19 ratings)
By Sarah Cook Magazine subscription – 5 issues for £5
PREP: 45 MINS
COOK: 30 MINS
plus cooling
EASY CUTS INTO 10 SLICES

Ingredients

250g pack softened butter, plus extra for the tins
100ml strong black coffee (made with 2 tbsp coffee granules), cooled
280g self-raising flour
250g golden caster sugar
½ tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g walnut, 2 tbsp roughly chopped, the rest finely chopped
For the filling
100g icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting
150ml double cream
100 g mascarpone, at room temperature

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter 2 x 20cm round cake tins and line with baking parchment. Set aside 1 tbsp of the coffee for the filling.
Beat the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and half the remaining coffee in a large bowl with an electric whisk until lump-free. Fold in the finely chopped walnuts, then divide between the tins and roughly spread. Scatter the roughly chopped walnuts over one of the cakes. Bake the cakes for 25-30 mins until golden and risen, and a skewer poked in comes out clean. Drizzle the plain cake with the remaining coffee. Cool the cakes in the tins.
Meanwhile, make the filling: beat together the icing sugar, cream and mascarpone, then fold in the reserved 2 tbsp coffee. Spread over the plain cake, then cover with the walnut-topped cake and dust with a little icing sugar.

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Christmas cake 2017

 Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g/7oz butter
• 200g/7oz dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 1 tbsp marmalade
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence
• 4 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
• 800g/1¾lb mixed dried fruits
• 100g/3½oz chopped mixed peel
• 150g/5oz glacé cherries, halved
• 100g/3½oz blanched almonds, chopped
• brandy

To decorate

• 200g/7oz marzipan
• 1-2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed

For the royal icing

• 3 free-range egg whites
• 600g/1lb 5oz icing sugar, sieved
• 1½ tsp liquid glycerine - optional
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 
  

• Method

  1. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas2. Grease a 20cm/8inch round or an 18cm/7inch square cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment.
  2. Sieve the flour, salt, mixed spice and cinnamon into a bowl.
  3. Cream the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and then mix in the sugar, treacle, marmalade and vanilla essence until light and fluffy.
  4. Mix the eggs a little at a time into the mixture adding a tablespoon of flour mixture with the last amount.
  5. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until well mixed and then mix in the dried fruit, mixed peel, glace cherries and the almonds.
  6. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and make a slight hollow in the centre.
  7. Bake in the oven for 3 hours and then test with a skewer. If not ready bake for up to another hour testing every 20 minutes until the skewer comes out clean. You may need to cover the top with a piece of foil if it begins to look too dark.
  8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
  9. Once cool, make a few holes in the cake with a skewer and pour over 3-4 tbsp of brandy. Let the brandy soak into the cake. Store the cake wrapped in foil and in an airtight tin or plastic container, holes side up. For a rich and moist cake, spoon over a few tablespoons of brandy every week until you are ready to ice and decorate your cake.
  10. To decorate the cake, place the cake on a foil board or cake plate. Dust your hands and the work surface with a little icing sugar and knead the marzipan until soft. Roll out half the marzipan to fit the top of the cake and roll out the rest in strips to fit around the sides of the cake.
  11. Brush the cake all over with the warmed apricot jam and then place the marzipan on top and around the cake. Cover the cake with a clean tea towel and then leave in a cool place to dry for at least one day.
  12. To make the icing, lightly whisk the egg whites adding the sugar at intervals. Beat well until the icing reaches soft peaks. Add the glycerine if using and the lemon juice. Spread icing all over cake either flat iced using a clean ruler or by forming soft peaks. Decorate with Christmas ornaments.
      

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