Almost time to start eating the Christmas cake – but first I better make it.
I use the trusted recipe I’ve been using for years – and my mother used before me. It comes from an old and well-used recipe book.
The book is even older than I am! All the measurements (including the oven temperature) are imperial. Recipes don’t differentiate between plain and self-raising flour – there was no self-raising. The back of the book gives useful information on refrigerators (“electric or gas”) because they were still a bit of an innovation.
Here’s the recipe (or not)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- Lemon Juice
- 4 large eggs
- Nuts
- 1 bottle of Brandy
- 1 bottle of Rum
- 2 cups dried fruit
Method:
- Sample the brandy to check the quality.
- Take a large bowl, check the brandy again.
- To be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and mix with a little rum and drink.
- Repeat.
- Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large bowl.
- Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again.
- At this point it is best to make sure the brandy is still ok.
- Flavour with rum to taste. Try another cup – just in case turn off the mixerer.
- Break two leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.
- Pick fruit off floor
- Mix on the turner.
- If the dried fruit gets stuck in the beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.
- Shample the brandy to check for tonsisticitity, flavour with a little Brum.
- Next ssiffft two cups of salt. Or something
- Who giveshz a shtuff
- Throw a pinch of rum over your shoulder
- Pick up the can, mop the floor
- Check the brandy
- Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.
- Add one table.
- Add a shpoon of shugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.
- Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over..
- Don’t forget to beat off the turner Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the brandy and kick the dog.
- Fall into bed.
CHERRY MISTMAS
Good one Chippy … will try it tomorrow, however, we don’t have a dog, so will the neighbours wife do ?
The recipe book looks like an old ‘Good Housekeeping’ one judging by the photos and text !
Yes, it is good Housekeeping, c.1958. The spine is broken and some of the pages have fallen out, but it is still my favourite.
I still use my Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium, given to me by my first fiancé’s Mum in 1970. The engagement didn’t last, but the friendship has and the book is still in fairly good condition too.
Chippy,
The spell-check is working overtime… 🙂 Like the accent. What accent?
Is this cake for family? Or family AND friends? (Yes we’re meeting on Christmas eve in Eastleigh, don’t forget that!)
I’ll have to ask the family whether they are willing to share it!
Make another one? That one was a trial.
I would love a piece of Christmas cake with currants, raisins and cherries. As it is, we have 3 mince pies to last all Christmas and no Brandy. Sri Lanka celebrates Christmas, whether you are Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem or none of the above.
There will be Christmas Breakfast at a local hotel for the ex-pats followed by a walk or a swim or, more likely, a snooze.
My sister in Florida was thrilled to find some mince pies this year – Mr Kipling ones, too!
Great recipe, Chippy. Love the method! I think I may have the same book – my late mother had a Good Housekeeping Cookery Compendium (black covers, hardback). The layout of the book and font used is very familiar! I now have that book.
Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas.
It’s the book my Mum was given when she left home to start nursing training. In turn she passed it to me (or maybe I “borrowed” it) when I left home for university.
You didn’t bake at university, did you?
Sometimes
Chippy, you are luring me back to the kitchen.