Christmas cake

[Farrier1987]

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Too many christmas carols everywhere you go. Having to pretend to be jolly. So much stuff I mostly cringe at for the commercialism and overly cloying sweetness.

But the good food that is to be had around Christmas is highly anticipated and fondly remembered. Other times It was all home made, and there is still lots of that, but commercially done more and more often.

People make all sorts of jokes about Christmas cake. But I, for one, really like a good fruity Christmas cake. Like my mother used to make, and the Catherine still makes most years. Wonderful taste and texture. No icing. Moist, but not too moist. Cooked in a pan lined with brown paper. Two kinds, a light and a dark. I prefer the dark, but the light is great too. And left on the counter uncovered for a day adds a texture I like, others might call stale.

Anyway, wondering what everyone else on here thinks about Christmas cake. Like, dislike, where to get good commercial, stuff like that.

And maybe another favorite of a Christmas pudding or cookies or other stuff like that. Tell us about it.

[Killerbunny]

I used to make it but with only 2 I don't always now. You make your cake in August so it can mature. Need to soak all the fruit in brandy/sherry/rum mix for 3 days first. Once made it's wrapped in foil until Xmas with feeding every couple of weeks with alcohol mix. Covered with marzipan a few days before eating. I haven't found a commercial one I like yet, the fundraising ones are full of chemicals.

[Brebis]

I make it every couple of years, dark and fruity and once made stored wrapped in cloth soaked in brandy. I’ve kept some for years this way and it only gets better with age, but it’s so good it usually only lasts a year or so.

My Mum used to make it too and when she went into care and my sisters and I went thought the freezer we discovered one at the bottom of the freezer that was about 10 years old, it was delicious!

Now, one of my favourite Christmas treats is mincemeat, tarts or pie. Again I make it well ahead and put brandy on top of the jars stored in the fridge and it can last years...

[Killerbunny]

Yes @Brebis I make my own mincemeat too. Just found some from last year at the bottom of the freezer, should be good.

[Epona]

I’m not keen on it...I like my fruit in one hand and my nuts in another......ummmmm, keep it clean folks. That being said, my husband’s mom made the best hard sauce that went over her homemade cakes. She would start those cakes in August....as she soaked them in rum. I always passed the cake and went right to the sauce....she did make another version for the kids. That sauce over vanilla ice cream was the best!

[Ontario Chick]

Don't like any candied fruit so that leaves a christmas cake out.
My Christmas baking consists of Christmas cookies just like my grandma made them and really the last Christmas tradition I still cling to, all the rest have been abandoned along the way :)

[Killerbunny]

One of our traditions along the way commemorated a holiday when we had a friend stay with us. STarted the day with Champagne and toast. Went for a walk to town (we were on he edge). Found the local pub open. Got home and had cheese sandwich for dinner. Excellent holiday!
We now do Solstice but on 25th we WILL be having our whole family here LOL!

[labradors]

I was brought up on fruit cake and always wondered why some kids had ghastly yellow sponge cakes for their birthdays!

OC there is hope! If you make your own Christmas cake, you can leave out the candied fruit! I can't stand that nasty jellied green and red stuff either, but I find candied cherries acceptable.

I can never find those enormous dried fruits that we used to call sultanas that tasted so divine. The closest I came to finding them was at Bulk Barn, but they called them something else. I'm not shopping there during the pandemic, so the Christmas cake did not get made .

Many years ago we made a Christmas cake with lots of alcohol in it. We would come back from skiing in the afternoon, have a big piece of cake with a mug of chocolate and fall asleep on the couch. Those were the days!

Linda

[Killerbunny]

Hot chocolate with brandy!

[kenya]

Like a little piece of fruit cake once in a while, not a real lover of it though.