Christmas Cake - have you cut into yours?

I made Mary Berry’s apricot and brandy Christmas cake. Dh doesn’t like marzipan so I cheated with ready roll icing and popped a couple of decorations on top. Cut it yesterday. Lovely cake.

After a few technical difficulties i have hopefully attached cake recipe. Although i have uploaded photos directly from my phone before i dont seem to be able to now,not just on Gransnet either but another website i tried! Excuse ingredient stains.! My cake needed just under 1,5 hours.

Have made the boiled fruit cake recipe several times from an old ‘Farmhouse Kitchen’ book. I think there was a programme on TV too with a lady called Dorothy Sleigholme, if anyone can remember?
Only problem - we don’t like dried fruit! Hate fruit scones and don’t start me on Christmas pudding - just yuck!
DH would take the boiled cake with cheese to his sporting venues and they seemed to like it. The wicked MIL always made us a Christmas cake - until the year DD1 innocently told her I threw it out for the birds!!! Usually, I’d give it to my DF but one year, he ended up giving me half back in July - hence the bird table. Another thing she never forgot/forgave!

DD made us a lovely gluten free one. We haven't cut it yet but I got into a bit of an afternoon tea habit in the run up to Christmas and as we have now finally eaten all the mince pies, cake will be a nice change.

This afternoon it is then.

No, not yet, though today might be the day ?.

Oh Georgegran one of my most well loved recipe books is the Farmhouse kitchen one and I remember the programme fondly?.
Your well travelled Christmas cake made me giggle!

The last two years I have made delias Creole Xmas cake which is a very moist cake,you use loads of booze and you keep the fruit mixture in the fridge for a week. I didn't make one this year. I bought a Tesco finest one which was lovely

I made a Dundee cake as prefer no icing, though I like marzipan.

Haven’t started it yet as we had a tiny iced one in a M&S hamper, very small and rich and we have been eating it first.

Mine looks very good, though I say it myself, and tried really hard not to over bake it this year, as that is something I seem to do.

When I used to make one I just covered the top with an arrangement of nuts, brushed with warm apricot jam - nobody liked icing.

But recently I haven’t made one at all - most of it would end up going out for the birds - who did at least appreciate it.

Christmas pudding is a lot more popular than cake in this house.

However you make your cake, it needs to be eaten with a piece of good mature Cheddar or similar.

Ended up with two. Ordered one from Betty's of Harrogate but it seemed a bit small. There was a point when I thought that we we would be entertaining outside so in my mind we would be having coffee and cake, so I made one. I use Delia's recipe. But everything changed, no one has visited so we are going to work our way through both. Luckily we quite like it but will still be having it in February ?

My cake is a BBC Good Food recipe and, like Septimia, I tried a boiled recipe this year which saves hours of oven time. We haven't cut it yet but will later today with a cup of tea. I've cut down massively on added sugar this year so I decorated with nuts rather than icing.

Always use the Sainsbury's 5 ingredients recipe, easily available on their website. It's just flour, sugar, eggs, butter and dried fruit. I also add some mixed spice to the mix.

It's so easy but I do soak the fruit overnight in more brandy. I also fed the baked cakes with more brandy!

This year I made two loaf tin cakes from the recipe and they turned out ok. One for DS, and one for DD. Am at DD's now and we have just cut into it, glad to say it's yummy.

Oh, thank you all for advice. Lovely cake photo’s too. It’s almost a pity to cut them.
Dorset I’ll print your recipe from that attachment, thanks.
Daisymae I bought goodies from Betty’s at Easter and was underwhelmed by the small sizes of them compared to the images on the internet.
Georgesgran you’ve stirred memories, I do remember Farmhouse Kitchen and enjoyed it.

BigBertha you made me smile
“ it (the cake) is just a vehicle for the brandy” ?

It must be very pleasing to see your family enjoy your home- baked cake BlueSapphire.
That’s what I will aim for next Christmas instead of apologising for a dry shop bought one with hard icing. ?
I would always leave out candid peel if it was in a recipe as it gets stuck in my teeth.

I didn’t do a cake this year , never finished last years , another thrown to the birds
Instead I bought a Christmas Cake iced bar from Lidl , I just sampled it ..... delicious !

I bought this from a Caribbean chef, it’s been fed with rum, untouched up until now.

No Christmas cake, No Pudding, for first time ever.

Only concession has been just one tray of mincepies- with apple mixed in to take some of the sickly sweetness away.

If it tastes as good as it looks ..... it will be very special jaxjacky.

P61 This year is the first time in many years I have made my own Christmas Cake I use the Dairy Homecook Book which was my mums.
There is a lot of fruit and very boosie but delicious.
I made one for my DD and she was very pleased with hers I am also a bit ham handed when it comes to icing and just did snow icing but they turned out lovely.
I can feel a slice of it calling me this afternoon with a welcome

Thank you and enjoy it glammanana.
The snow effect icing, nice and thick, is exactly what will go on my cake next Christmas. With some lustre powder, and a snowman if I can find one. I’m fancying some now too. ?

OH makes our Christmas cake in September every year and feeds it with brandy or rum till December when it normally gets iced. He used to make six, but now it's down to two. My DM loves his fruit cake.

This year he hasn't got round to icing them yet, as we can't deliver one to DM, so we will probably be eating it well into January once it's been iced. Along with a lovely chunk of Cheddar, yum.

Have just enjoyed a slice of my homemade, rum soaked Christmas cake with a cup of coffee. I use James Martin’s recipe and it never disappoints. I found it online.

Mine is a handed down wedding cake recipe, I've never been disappointed in it. 4 Yr old GS helped decorate it ;-) with cheerios, choc buttons, and gummy bears, lol ?. Took photo for DD, then put my decs on...