Baking Dessert

Speedy Christmas cake

Name: Speedy Christmas cake recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 175g unsalted butter, softened; 225g brown sugar; 275g self-raising flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 175ml buttermilk; 2 eggs; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon; Finely grated zest of 1 orange; 225g fruit mince; 2 tbs brandy; 50g hazelnuts; 50g blanched almonds; 85g Brazil nuts; 140g red glace cherries; 100g golden syrup; 2/3 cup (100g) icing sugar; 2 tsp lemon juice

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30m

1h 15m

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’Tis the night before Christmas and you haven’t made a cake? Just follow this recipe, for everyone’s sake!

You’ll need a 20cm springform cake pan for this recipe.

175g unsalted butter, softened
225g brown sugar
275g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175ml buttermilk
2 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
225g fruit mince
2 tbs brandy

Florentine topping

50g hazelnuts
50g blanched almonds
85g Brazil nuts
140g red glace cherries
100g golden syrup

Icing

2/3 cup (100g) icing sugar
2 tsp lemon juice

Method

1.

Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Grease and line base of a 20cm springform cake pan. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour and baking powder over and stir into butter mixture with buttermilk and eggs. Stir in zests with fruit mince and brandy. Spoon into pan and bake for 1 hour.
2.

Meanwhile, for florentine topping, place nuts, cherries and golden syrup in a saucepan and warm over a medium heat. When cake has cooked for 1 hour, remove from oven and spread topping over. Return for a further 15-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
3.

For the icing, mix together sugar and lemon juice, place in a piping bag with a small nozzle and drizzle over cake. Decorate with ribbon, if desired.