Mary Berry’s Victorian Christmas Cake

The days are approaching when our kitchen will be in full swing and this is one of those moments when knowing a simple recipe that solves a Christmas dessert or breakfast is warmly welcomed.

Personally I love making desserts and sweets that require time and dedication, but I'm also aware that there comes a time when we can't give any more. So today I'm going to leave you a fantastic option that requires very little preparation time.Mary Berry’s Victorian Christmas Cake or Mary Berry's Victorian Christmas Cake.

The moment you see it I know what you'll think, but how old-fashioned! Well yes, it's true. It's an "old-fashioned dessert", very classic, traditional and full of flavor. There are certain sweets with a very classic appearance that attract me a lot. They take me back to a romantic, magical era and I think that's precisely why I love them so much.

The thing is that the moment I saw it I knew I would have to make it. It's a sweet that may remind us a lot of the classic Cake aux Fruits, but its ingredients and finish differ a bit from that one. Although it's true they share some similarity.

This cake is named after its author

Mary Berry, Mary-Rosa Alleyne Berry, a food writer and television presenter who, currently and for the last 10 years, has been a judge on the show "The Great British Bake Off". She has written more than 70 cookbooks and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.

This cake is an explosion of flavor and texture, combining sweet, citrusy, fresh and delicate flavors. The cake is very moist and combined with the nuts it is truly a delicacy. Without a doubt this fruit cake is one of those desserts that pleasantly surprises. Classics never fail, right?

To make it we only need to chop the fruits, mix them, prepare the cake batter, fold the fruits in and bake. The preparation process won't take more than 15 minutes and while it bakes, which takes a bit longer because it is made with care and love, we can get many things done.

You don't have to make it the same day you plan to eat it. You can make it 1–2 days in advance and keep it wrapped in cling film in the refrigerator. On the day you serve it, take it out 3 hours before to come to room temperature. Then brush with jam, decorate and serve.

One important thing I don't want to leave unmentioned is that a good pan always helps a recipe succeed. To make the cake I used this 20 cm diameter Push-Pan. It's non-stick, handy, very easy to unmold and cleans very easily. You know that when we have a lot of work, every bit of help counts, and in this case tools like this are almost essential.

Laura Ashley porcelain salad bowl, Laura Ashley cotton tablecloth and Microplane Master grater

Ingredients (for a 20 cm pan)

For the cake:

• 250 g soft pastry flour
• 75 g ground almond
• 5 large eggs
• 250 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250 g sugar
• 8 g baking powder
• 220 g red cherries in syrup (maraschino cherries)
• 225 g pineapple in its own juice, no sugar
• 250 g sultana raisins
• 50 g dried apricots
• 50 g raw almonds
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Pinch of salt

For decoration:

• Whole raw almonds
• Red cherries in syrup
• Candied orange
• 2 teaspoons apricot jam

Method

We hydrate the raisins

1. Add the raisins to a heatproof bowl and pour 250 g of boiling water over them.
2. Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
3. After this time, drain and set aside.

Prepare the batter

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC with top and bottom heat.
2. Grease the Push-Pan with butter, dust with flour and remove the excess by turning it over. Set aside.
3. Sift the flour together with the ground almond, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl mix the chopped pineapple with the chopped dried apricots, the cherries cut into quarters, the slightly crushed almonds, the drained raisins and the lemon zest. Mix to distribute the mixture and set aside.
5. In the bowl of the KitchenAid add the butter together with the sugar and beat with the paddle. Gradually increase the speed until reaching level 3. Beat until you obtain a creamy, airy and pale texture.
6. Start adding the eggs. Do them one at a time, waiting for each to be fully incorporated before adding the next.
7. Begin adding the dry ingredients mixture. Do it gradually while mixing at the same time.
8. Do not overbeat the mixture, this is very important to achieve a fluffy result; mix only until the ingredients are incorporated.
9. Finally, dust the reserved fruit mixture with flour and add it to the batter, folding it in with the help of a spatula. It's better to do this manually to ensure the fruit is distributed evenly and to avoid overmixing.

Bake

1. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.
2. Decorate the top with almonds, cherries halved and a little candied orange.
3. Place in the oven at mid-height and bake for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Halfway through baking, cover the cake with aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much.
4. Before removing it from the oven check that it is well baked by inserting a skewer; it should come out clean.
5. Remove and let rest on a rack for 60 minutes.
6. After that time unmold and let cool completely.

Decorate

1. Warm the apricot jam slightly to loosen it.
2. Brush the surface of the cake with it.
3. If any cherries have sunk too deep into the cake, you can redecorate the surface with cherries cut into quarters.
4. Serve

Tall non-stick PushPan pan

Notes

• If you wish, you can macerate the raisins in a liqueur you like. In that case I recommend leaving them for at least 24 hours.
• If you don't like one of the nuts, you can replace it with whichever you prefer.
• The pan unmolds wonderfully well, but even so I recommend greasing it with butter and dusting with flour to ensure nothing sticks.
• It keeps in perfect condition under a glass dome for 7 days.
• The cake can be frozen for 2 months wrapped very well in cling film. To defrost it leave it at room temperature for 12 hours.

This Christmas don't fail to try this Mary Berry's Victorian Christmas Cake or Mary Berry’s Victorian Christmas Cake. Any moment will be perfect to enjoy it. Whether at the end of a lunch or dinner with a little champagne, mid-afternoon with a coffee or for breakfast accompanied by a good hot chocolate.

And of course, if you make it do not forget to share it with us.

Laura Ashley serving paddle and Le Creuset Tea Time teapot