I want to make my Christmas cake tomorrow

I decided on the Delia recipe this year and soaked the fruit for days. I prefer to have the alcohol cooked off so will feed it with cold tea or orange juice.

I've another batch of fruit soaking for my second cake.

I only soak the fruit if it is a bit dried up looking ! My Mum used to spend ages picking through the dried fruit then washing it , at least fruit is clean and plump looking nowadays ( if you throw out the old stuff and buy new !) I never use booze in my cakes , gives me indigestion , but everyone enjoys it . I use Margarite Pattens recipe too

Thank you Alea! Made me laugh when I woke up to your recipe this morning (California time).

I never put booze (Yeuk) in our cake and have not had any complaints. I do make it one day and let it stand in the tin before baking the next day.

Alima I make Tunis cake any time from now on and freeze it. Add the chocolate on Christmas eve.

Yeuk to booze, ginny?! My cake will contain

3 tablespoons rum
3 tablespoons brandy
3 tablespoons cherry brandy
3 tablespoons port
1½ teaspoons Angostura bitters

and an extra slosh of each because the fruit seemed a bit dry.

Yep, I can't stand it. Many a pud. or dessert ruin for me because of it. I know I am in the minority .

My DH is the same about booze in food, ginny. But he doesn't like dried fruit anyway, so I don't have to take this into account at Christmas!

I think you will all need to stay away from naked flames after eating your cakes
I prefer a nice slice chunk of Dundee

I always .made a Christmas cake when my parents were alive. Now only DH and I eat it...........not good for our erstwhile waist lines.
Used to soak the fruit in rum for several months when we lived in Jamaica. Lovely, but it took hours and hours to cook!!!!!!

Actually Nina I think I prefer Dundee cake.

It's that Delia Smith, nina. She's a very bad influence.

Has anybody else had trouble finding candied peel this year? Tesco don't have it online or in our local store. Our local Coop had it, but it was 3 months out of date, and looked it. I've had to resort to making my own. And black treacle was hard to get round here when I needed it for Hallowe'en/Bonfire Night baking.

Have you not got a Waitrose?

Oh no. You're in the North. Booths?

Oh, I love Booths! Too far away from us for everyday, though. And no, we're not posh North - no Waitrose for 15 miles (and no home delivery either ).

But now I've got my eye on that Booths Adlington Apple-Fed Cockerel Cushion for Christmas dinner. Sorry to hijack the cake thread. As you were.

If you leave it almost-too-late to make your cake, you could try Delia's Last Minute Christmas Mincemeat Cake. I made it once years ago and it was good, but a bit sweet for me. If I make it again, I would reduce the sugar.

I've made that one too MiniMouse, it's very good and the way things are going (or not going) this year it may be the one that gets done. I bought the fruit ages ago but it's all still in the planning stage

I've always used the recipe my mother-in-law gave me 43 years ago. I never used to soak the fruit but have tried doing so in the last few years. I can't tell the difference in the end product!

What her recipe recommends is that the raw mixture is allowed to stand for 24hrs before baking, which apparently 'ripens' the cake. I've never had any complaints about my cake and no one's keeled over from poisoning so I guess it's all fine.

Regarding mixed peel, I could get that but not glacé cherries from Tesco this year. I live in a rural area with few shopping options so had to resort to pricey 'artisan' cherries from a local cafe/farm shop.

I thought the alcohol evaporated anyway and you are left with the flavour. The evaporated alcohol is the angels share.

I've just pre done my fruit put it in a very large sauce pan with the zest and juice of a orang and a lemon alcohol spices cranberries cherries butter and let it simmer for 10 minutes let it cool and leave over night tomorrow I will add the rest of the ingredients, but boy does the house smell lovely.