Caribbean Christmas Cake/ Wedding Cake
Note You can substitute strawberry jam
with marmelade or any flavour jam. You
can uses alcohol to flavor it or not.
You can ice the cake or leave it plain.
you can serve it as a christmas fruit
cake or use it to make a wedding cake.
This recipe makes enough cake to fill
a set of 3 graduated wedding cake pans
(7.5 in, 5.5 in, and a 4 in pan).
The cakes are about 2 inches high and
the total weight is about 11.5 pounds.
If you where to cut the cake up for a
wedding, it would serve at least 100 -
150 people or it depends on how small
you want pieces to be.
Ingredients:
12 eggs
1 pound of butter
2 cups of currants
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/4 cups of sugar
1 cup of strawberry jam
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
2 cups of seeded raisins
2 cups of seedless raisins
2 1/2 cups of chopped dates
4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 3/4 cups of slivered almonds
1/2 cup of brandy or pineapple juice
1 (10 ounce) can of crushed pineapple
1 (12 ounce) bottle maraschino cherries
2 cups of citrus peels or mixed glace fruit
2 cups of sugar (additional sugar listed below)
Directions:
Day 1:
In a large size bowl, measure the raisins,
nuts, currants along with the citron peel.
Drain the cherries and reserve the juice.
Chop cherries, they should measure about
1 1/4 cups then add to the fruit mixture.
Next stire in the brandy and soak it over
night
Note: you can also do this a few weeks in
advance and let it sit in the refrigerator
and let the fruit soak right in the brandy
for more flavor if you like.
Now if you decide to do it the day before
baking cover it with the plastic wrap and
then leave on top of the counter at room
temperature.
In a large size sauce pan or a heavy dutch
oven, simmer the entire contents of can of
pineapple with 2 cups of sugar and cook it
uncovered for at least 30 minutes until it
thickened.
Frequently stir and make sure the heat is
not too high. When cooled off, stir juice
from the jar of marachino cherries. Note:
it should not be more than a 1/2 cup and
the strawberry jam.
This mixture doesn't have to be done the
day before baking but it does have to be
cool before you add it to the cake. Note:
it is recommend that you do this step on
the day of baking.
Now prepare thecake pans by greasing and
lining with wax double thickness of heavy
brown paper. Brown shopping bags do well
or use aluminum foil with dull side out.
Grease paper or aluminum foil very well.
Use any size pans you wish but leave an
inch space at the top of pan. The Total
weight is 11. 5 pounds.
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. sift
or stir the flour with the spices, salt
and soda until its well mixed.
Use a cup of flour mixture and sprinkle
over fruits and nuts then toss it until
they are well coated with the flour.
Set the remaining 3 cups of flour aside.
In a large measuring bowl, cream 2 1/4
cups of sugar with the butter.
Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in dry
ingredients, alternating with pineapple
mixture.
You must make about 3 dry and 2 liquid
additions, combining lightly after each
addition.
Pour over flour-coated fruits and nuts
and mix until well combined. Turn into
the prepared pans, fill them to about
1 inch from the top.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 3 to
3 5 hours depending on pan size. Place
in a shallow pan of water on the lower
rack for added moisture if you'd like.
The cake should be fairly firm in the
centre and a skewer inserted right in
the centre should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool
in pan for 5 min. Remove from pan then
peel off paper and then let it cool on
a rack.
When cooled off, wrap it in cheesecloth
that has been soaked in the brandy, rum,
black wine along with liquer, or either
fruit juice.
Then wrap the cake in tin foil (leaving
the cheesecloth on the cake). Freeze if
not being used right away.
Note: you can soak fruits around the end
of october for a couple of weeks in the
refrigerator, then in mid November, bake
the cake and freeze it.
Every couple of weeks, take the fruit out
and re-soak the cheesecloth in the liquor
and wrap it back up and re-freeze.
By the time Chritmas comes back around you
will have 1 moist cake, you can Note: also
you can use fruit juice if you do not want
any alcohol.
Finally, you can decorate cake with almond
paste or your favorite icing or just serve
it plain.
Makes 125 servings
1 1/2 hours prep
