A Dundee cake makes a lighter take on the traditional Christmas cake. It’s a less rich, crumblier alternative to the hefty traditional Christmas cake. To make it more indulgent (it is Christmas, after all), Debbie Major has added glacé cherries too.
Note: You’ll need to soak the dried fruit the night before you intend to bake.
If only a classic cake will do, try Mary Berry’s faultless rich fruit Christmas cake recipe.
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Ingredients
For the sponge
- 100g each raisins, currants and sultanas (300g in total)
- 100g red glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and halved
- 6 tbsp whisky
- Finely grated zest and juice 1⁄2 lemon and 1⁄2 small orange
- 150g butter, softened
- 150g light soft brown sugar
- 3 large free-range eggs, beaten
- 225g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 2-3 tbsp milk, as necessary
- 25g lightly toasted blanched almonds, chopped
- 25g ground almonds
- 100g blanched whole almonds to decorate
You’ll also need
- Deep 20cm loose-bottomed round cake tin, greased and lined with compostable baking paper
- Extra paper and foil for wrapping
- Sheets of newspaper
- Cook’s string
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Method
- The night before you plan to bake, put the dried fruit, cherries, candied peel, 3 tbsp of the whisky, the citrus zest and juices in a bowl and stir. Cover and leave overnight (see Tips).
- The next day, tie a folded sheet of newspaper into a band, wrap it around the outside of the prepared tin, then tie with string. Fold another few sheets into a thick pad and put on a baking sheet. This helps stop the cake browning too quickly, as it’s in the oven for quite a long time.
- Heat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/ gas 3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time, adding 1 tbsp flour after the second and third addition (see Tips). Sift over the remaining flour, baking powder and nutmeg, then fold in using a balloon whisk, adding a little milk if necessary to get a soft dropping consistency. Fold in the chopped and ground almonds, then the soaked fruit and any juices.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Decorate the cake with circles of blanched almonds, working from the outside edge inwards – press the almonds in very lightly as you don’t want them to sink during baking.
- Put the cake tin on the folded paper on the baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven for about 2 hours or until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean (see Tips).
- Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove, put on a wire rack and leave until completely cold. Wrap the cake in a large sheet of compostable baking paper, then a layer of foil and store in an airtight tin (see Make Ahead).
- The day after baking, unwrap the cake, turn it over and prick the base with a fine skewer. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of the remaining whisky, then re-wrap it and return it to the tin. Repeat this feeding process twice, on day 3 and day 5 after baking. After that, either eat or wrap and leave to mature (see Make Ahead).
Nutrition
- 452kcals Calories
- 19.4g (7.7g saturated) Fat
- 8.1g protein Protein
- 56.1g (33.3g sugars) Carbs
- 2.1g Fibre
- 0.5g Salt
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