I am proud to present this year's Christmas Cake! I had planned to make the Gramercy Tavern's Gingerbread in my bundt tin; but when I spotted this recipe, posted by a friend on another website, I couldn't resist making it.
Dave doesn't like traditional fruit cake, so I hoped that this would be sufficiently different in order that we could both enjoy it. Alas, it was not to be! It smells like fruit cake, even though it tastes different. I think it's the smell of dried fruit soaked in brandy that puts him off.
I made a few alterations to the recipe - I just can't help myself.... In place of dried cranberries (I really couldn't face a trip to the supermarket for them), I substituted natural glace cherries, chopped fairly roughly. I also increased the amount of white chocolate in the ganache to 200g. This gives a nice firm ganache which slices pretty neatly. It also stops it from spoiling too quickly. I wouldn't keep it for more than five days with the ganache on top, though. Scrape it off and either replace it with fresh ganache or serve the bare cake with some brandy butter.
I wouldn't advise making the cake whilst in a hurry, though. I was convinced that the cake would be ruined after I suffered a few mishaps when I made it. First the dark chocolate siezed whe I melted it - the water under the bowl boiled instead of simmering. Remember to turn the heat down after putting the bowl on top!! And then the butter softened too much by the stove, so I had a very liquid creamed mixture instead of soft, fluffy goodness. Still, it all worked out in the end!!
The cake is very dense, moist and boozy. Each bite is punctuated by small explosions of flavour from the soaked fruit and there's a nice crunch from the brazil nuts. The dark chocolate flavour isn't over-powering but provides richness, great colour and of course flavour, albeit more subtle than you'd expect. The ganache is smooth and creamy which provides a nice contrast to the dark richness of the cake.
Chocolate Christmas Cake, original author unknown.
For the cake
75g dried cranberrries
150g lexia raisins (or other raisins)
5 tbsp brandy
250g plain chocolate
6 tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract
175g unsalted butter
175g light muscavado sugar
4 medium eggs, lightly beaten
150g self-raising flour
75g ground almonds
75g Brazil nuts, chopped
For the ganache
150g white chocolate
300ml double cream
1 tbsp brandy
cocoa powder, for dusting
1.Soak the cranberries and raisins in 2 tbsp brandy overnight.
2.Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Oil and base line a 20cm round loose bottomed cake tin.
3.Melt plain chocolate, milk and almond extract together in a bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly.
4.In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in flour, melted chocolate mixture, ground almonds, soaked fruit and Brazil nuts.
5.Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1-1 � hours (well that�s what the recipe says but we find it�s nearer 2 hours!) until a skewer comes out clean. Remove cake from tin, discard lining paper and cool completely on a wire rack. Then turn cake over, prick the base several times and drizzle over the remaining brandy, before turning upright again.
6.To make the ganache, melt the white chocolate. Allow to cool slightly. Lightly whip the double cream until just holding its shape. Fold in the brandy. Working quickly, gently fold the cream into the white chocolate until it�s well combined.
7.Spread the white chocolate mixture over the tops and sides of the cake and smooth with a knife. Allow the ganache to set and then dust with the cocoa powder and tie a gold ribbon around if you wish!
A tip: Make the cake the day before you want to serve it and once it is cooled keep it in the fridge wrapped in foil. The next day, decorate it and serve. This makes sure the cake is nice and dense and not crumble, which it will be if you eat it on the day you cook it.
Enjoy!!
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