Mary Berry's Victorian Christmas Cake

The days are approaching in which our kitchen will be at full capacity and, it is one of those moments, in which knowing a simple recipe that will solve a Christmas dessert or breakfast is received with open arms.

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

As soon as I see him I know what you are going to think, but how old! Well yes, the truth. It is an "old dessert", very classic, traditional and full of flavor. There are certain sweets with a very classic appearance that attract my attention. They take me back to a romantic, magical time and I think that is exactly why I fall in love so much.

The fact is that as soon as I saw it, I knew that I would have to prepare it. It is a sweet that can remind us a lot of the classic Cake aux Fruits , but its ingredients and finish differ a bit from it. Although it is true that they have a certain similarity.

This cake is named after its author.

Mary Berry , Mary-Rosa Alleyne Berry, food writer and TV presenter who is currently and for 10 years a judge on " The Great British Bake Off ". She has written over 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 , in which sweet, citrus, fresh and delicate flavors are combined. The cake is very juicy and combined with the nuts it is really a delicacy. Without a doubt, this fruit cake is one of those desserts that surprises and is very pleasant. But the classics never fail, right?

To carry it out we will only have to chop the fruits, mix them, prepare the sponge cake dough, integrate it with the fruits and bake it. The preparation process will not take more than 15 minutes and while it is baking, which takes a little longer because it is done with care and love, we will be able to advance many things.

Nor do you have to do it the same day that you are going to consume it. You can do it 1-2 days in advance and keep it wrapped in film in the fridge. The day you are going to serve it, take it out 3 hours before the cold so that it tempers. Then brush with the jam, decorate and serve.

One important thing that I do not want to leave without mentioning is that a good mold always helps make a preparation successful . To make the cake I have used this 20 cm diameter Push-Pan mold . It is non-stick, comfortable, very easy to unmold and cleans very easily. You already know that when we have a lot of work, all help is little, and in this case utensils of this type are almost essential.

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

Ingredients (for a 20 cm mold)

For the cake:

• 250 g loose pastry flour
• 75 g ground almonds
• 5 eggs L
• 250 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250g of sugar
• 8 g chemical yeast
• 220 g of red cherries in syrup (cherries)
• 225 g of pineapple in its juice without sugar
• 250 g of sultanas
• 50 g dried apricots
• 50 g of raw almonds
• Zest of 2 lemons
• Pinch of salt

To decorate:

• Whole raw almonds
• red cherries in syrup
• candied orange
• 2 teaspoons apricot jam

Elaboration

We hydrate the raisins

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

We prepare the dough

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC with heat up and down .
2. Grease the Push-Pan mold with butter, sprinkle with flour and remove the excess by turning it over. We booked.
3. Sift the flour together with the ground almonds, chemical yeast and salt. We booked.
4. In a large bowl, mix the chopped pineapple together with the chopped dried apricots, the quartered cherries, the slightly crushed almonds, the drained raisins and the lemon zest. Mix to distribute the mixture and reserve.
5. In the KitchenAid bowl, add the butter along with the sugar and beat with the paddle. We will increase the speed gradually until we reach level 3 . We beat until we obtain a creamy, airy and whitish texture.
6. We begin to add the eggs. We will do it one at a time and wait for it to be fully integrated before adding the next one.
7. We begin to add the mixture of dry ingredients. We will do it little by little and mixing at the same time.
8. We must not over beat the mixture , this is very important to obtain a fluffy result, we mix only until the ingredients are integrated.
9. Finally, we sprinkled with flour the mixture of fruits that we had reserved and added it to the dough, integrating it with the help of a spatula. It is better that you do it manually to guarantee that they are distributed evenly, in addition to not mixing excessively.

we bake

1. Pour the mixture into the mold and smooth the surface with a spatula .
2. We decorate the upper part with almonds, cherries cut in half and a little candied orange.
3. Place in the oven at medium height and bake for 2 hours and 15 minutes . Halfway through cooking, we will cover the cake with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.
4. Before removing it from the oven we will check that it is well cooked by poking with a toothpick, it should come out clean.
5. Remove and let rest on a wire rack for 60 minutes .
6. After that time, unmold and let cool completely.

we decorate

1. Heat the apricot jam a bit to lighten it.
2. We brush the surface of the cake with it.
3. In the event that any of the cherries have remained submerged in the cake, we can redecorate the surface with quartered cherries.
4. we serve

PushPan non-stick pan

Grades

• If you wish, you can macerate the raisins in any liquor that you like. In that case I recommend leaving them for at least 24 hours .
• In case you like any of the nuts, you can replace them with the one you like best.
• The mold unmolds wonderfully well , but even so, I recommend greasing it with butter and dusting it with flour to make sure nothing sticks.
• It is kept in perfect condition inside a glass bell for 7 days.
• The cake can be frozen for 2 months wrapped very well in film. To defrost it, leave it at room temperature for 12 hours.

During this Christmas, be sure to try this Victorian Christmas Cake from Mary Berry 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 bit of champagne, in the afternoon with a coffee or for breakfast accompanied by a good hot chocolate.

And, of course, if you feel encouraged with it, be sure to share it with us.

Laura Ashley Serving Scoop and Tea Time Le Creuset Teapot