B13: "Don't Slam the Door"...........bake an Irish Christmas Cake

Photo from McDonnells Third Good Food Cook Book

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​I can just see my close friends spluttering out their tea with laughter as they see this post.  Me! Giving cooking advice!   Hahaha.  It’s well known that I’m not exactly a domestic goddess.  I have a sign in my kitchen that reads:

Sign in my kitchen......

However, for many years I baked our Christmas cake at home in Carrick with my mother, Peggy.  My father, Mickey, helped with lining the tins.  This was in the pre-Teflon days!  And my brother, Martin, was given the job of making sure the doors didn’t slam! 

An old Irish “piseog” (superstition) warned that to slam a door (or indeed make any loud noise), while the Christmas cake was in the oven, would cause all the fruit to sink to the bottom and so ruin the cake. Now….. I don’t know how true this is …or the science behind it….the only thing I can say is that I never wanted to take that chance.  I suspect that story was spread by Irish mammies looking for an afternoon of peace and quiet!
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My recipe came originally from McDonnells Good Food Cook Book with a tweak here and there.  I still have those wonderful little cookbooks by Paula Day from the 1980s that you got by collecting Stork margarine wrappers (Does anyone else have them out there?).  They look like this:

McDonnells Good Food Cook Books

So without further ado here is my recipe for an Irish Christmas Cake:

Ingredients: IMPERIAL/METRIC

12 oz/350g Stork Margarine (at room temperature)
12 oz/350g castor sugar
12 oz/350g currants
12 oz/350g sultanas
12 oz/350g raisins
6 oz./175g glacé cherries washed, dried and quartered.
6 oz/175g mixed cut peel
Grated rind of 1 large orange

1 lb./450g plain flour sieved together with 2 rounded teaspoons mixed spice &
½ level teaspoon baking powder.

3 oz/75g ground almonds
7 large eggs, size 1
4 tablespoons whiskey

Oven Temperature: Pre-heat to Gas Mark 2-300 F-150 C

Shelf: Shelf below centre.
Size of Tin: 10 inch/25 cm round.
Approximate Baking Time: 4-4 ½ hours.

Method:

• Brush the tin with melted Stork and line the bottom and sides with first a layer of brown paper and then a layer of greaseproof paper.  See illustration.
• Cream together the Stork margarine and castor sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs one at a time then fold in the flour/spice/baking powder mix. 
• Lastly, fold in the fruit mix, ground almonds, mixed peel, orange rind and cherries. At this point, part of the tradition of making Irish Christmas Cakes is to make a wish when stirring the ingredients together. I have very clear memories of the 4 of us lining up to stir the cake and make a wish.
• (Alternatively place all the cake ingredients together in a very large mixing bowl or basin and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed (3-4 minutes). Back in the day we didn’t have an electric food mixer/ processor ….but of course that would be way easier but not as much fun!)
• Place the mixture in the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a wet tablespoon.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for approximately 4-4 ½ hours. Check at intervals after 3 hours, as ovens tend to vary. Cover the cake with brown paper or foil for about the last 1 ½ hours, to prevent the top of the cake from becoming too brown.
• Test the cake by pressing the centre top with the fingers, it should feel firm. Thrust a clean warm skewer into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean with no uncooked mixture clinging to it, the cake is ready. At this stage there should be no sizzling noise to be heard from the cake.
• Pour the whiskey over the cake after removing it from the oven for extra flavour and keeping quality.
• Leave the cake to cool in the tin overnight. Turn out and remove papers.

To Store: Wrap in double greaseproof paper and foil then store in a cool place.

Hints:

• This recipe is best made in a warm kitchen with all of the ingredients at room temperature.
• Eggs should be removed from the fridge at least 2 hours before baking.
• Collect and weigh up the ingredients and check that your tin is the correct size.
• This cake may also be baked in a 9 inch/23 cm square tin.
• Fix the shelves in your oven before you heat it.
• Pre-heat the oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.

 
Almond Paste for the top and side of the cake

Ingredients: IMPERIAL/METRIC
1 ¼ lbs./575g ground almonds
10 oz./275g icing sugar, sieved
10 0z./275g castor sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice or whiskey
½ teaspoon almond essence
2 eggs (size 1 or 2)

Method:

• Put the ground almonds, sieved icing sugar and castor sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

• Lightly mix the lemon juice or whiskey, almond essence and eggs together. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add enough of the beaten egg mixture, to form a fairly stiff paste.
• Gather together with the fingers.
• Turn out onto a table dusted with icing sugar or castor sugar and knead until smooth.
• Brush the top and sides of the cake with boiling apricot jam then ice with the almond paste. Leave to dry for 1-2 days.

Royal Icing for the top and sides of the cake

Ingredients: IMPERIAL/METRIC
2 lbs./900g icing sugar
4 eggs white
3 drops lemon juice
2 teaspoons glycerine (optional)

Method:

• Sieve the icing sugar.
• Place the egg whites and lemon juice in a mixing bowl and beat lightly with a fork.
• Then using a wooden spoon, beat in the icing sugar, adding in small quantities and beating well between each addition.
• When ready the icing should be smooth and glossy and should form a peak with a fine point when the spoon is lifted from the bowl.
• Beat in the glycerine, if used.
• Scrape down the bowl with a clean scraper and cover with a damp cloth or a plastic container with a tight fitting lid. Leave to stand at least one hour before use.
• Ice the top and side of the cake with the royal icing. Leave to dry for at least 24 hours. Keep any leftover icing in a plastic container with a tight fitting lid.
• Decorate with Santa, Rudolph, etc. cake decorations of your choice, and red ribbon.

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Time to reminisce:
I must add that in our house, we never did ice the cake….Mickey never liked the almond icing, Peggy never liked royal icing and Martin liked neither.  I still remember those cold dreary November afternoons though with the cake in the oven.  And the gorgeous aroma wafting through the house as the evening wore on.  Until...... finally Mickey would ask “ Do you think it’s done now, girl?”  And I’d finally lift it from the oven..... delighted with myself that I hadn't destroyed it or wasted Peggy's flour and fruit.   
 
So, if you still have your parents alive be sure and get the family favourite recipes from them. You can scan or snap the handwritten ones with your phone. And file away for easy access and for passing on to your own children / grandchildren.  If a Christmas Cake is a bit too much for you to bake with someone you love, why not try something simpler. For some great baking recipes try here.
Enjoy making memories with someone special!
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What I wouldn’t give to be back in that kitchen with the fire burning surrounded by all that matters and all that I’ll ever need. Thinking of Peggy especially today on what would have been her 90th birthday.  Forever in my heart xx.

My Mam, Peggy Gough Phelan (1929-2014)

​“A Mother’s love’s a blessing
No matter where you roam.
Keep her while she’s living,
You’ll miss her when she’s gone.
Love her as in childhood,
Though feeble, old and grey,
For you’ll never miss a mother’s love,
‘Til she’s buried beneath the clay”

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis x

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Bucket List Items Ticked Off in the above Blog post
Number 35 - Food & Drink - Bake a Cake with Someone Special

Other Blog Posts
Blog 4 - London/ Singapore
Blog 5 - Perth, Australia
Blog 6 - Uluru, Australia
Blog 7 - Alice Springs, Australia
​Blog 8 - Adelaide, Australia
Blog 9 - Melbourne, Australia
Blog 10 - Cairns, Australia
Blog 11 - Sydney, Australia

So have you ever baked with someone special?  What do you remember most about it?  Has your Christmas Cake ever flopped? 

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