I’ve been baking my Christmas cakes this week.  Some will say I’ve left it late – I say, I’ve got time to do it now so let the mixing commence.

I make a really easy cake and I’ve tweaked the recipe as time goes on.  So here we go – you’ll need:

250g of butter (softened)

250g of sugar (caster, light muscavado, dark muscavado if you like a treacley cake)

250g plain flour

4 eggs

heaped teaspoon mixed spice

500g dried mixed fruit (we use the luxury mixed fruit bags from Tesco)

100g glace cherries (but this house loves cherries, so I put 200g in)

You can also add some chopped dried apricots (probably about a dozen of them) or other dried fruit if that takes your fancy.  I also add some grated root ginger.

Brandy/other soaking alcohol of your choice. For really boozy cakes I buy the standard dried mixed fruit bags and then feed it brandy over about 3 days (pour some over it, leave it overnight & repeat until it won’t take any more!).

My cake for our house is alcohol free so I use the luxury fruit mix as it’s plumper and needs less fluid.

Pre-heat your oven to about 160C (140 Fan), Gas 3

Grease and line a 20cm (that’s about an 8″) tin – or if you’re using silicon, gloat that you have made an excellent investment and that you don’t have to grease and line!

Get a big old bowl and into it put

The butter, sugar, flour, mixed spice and eggs.  Using your trusty handmixer – beat this all together to make a smooth cake batter.

Add the dried fruit and mix in.  If you’re not using alcohol soaked fruit, add a good splodge of milk to keep the mixture nice and soft.

Finally add the cherries and give a gentle mix in so they don’t break up too much.

Pour into your tin, and bake for about 90mins.  Ish.  I don’t know what your oven is like and I don’t know how deep your tin is.  The cakes I made last week cooked a darn sight quicker than the ones that I’m waiting to finish whilst I type this!

To test when it’s cooked, put a skewer into the cake and if it comes out clean it’s done.  If it starts smelling/looking a bit crispy, cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper or foil whilst it finishes off.

When it’s done, allow to cool in the tin for a bit and then turn out on wire rack to cool completely.  Wrap tightly in foil and put in a safe place ready to be decorated closer to Christmas.

Alternatively, cut into slices and serve immediately!

This monstrosity is made with a double mix – yours won’t look quite so large!  This size is brilliant for a Christening cake if you need to serve lots of people!