Christmas Cake
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Gemma made her first Christmas Cake not long ago following a recipe her mum shared with her. It was a great experience tending to the cake in the months before Christmas and it made a wonderful Christmas gift for Jacks parents! We’ve also in recent years adapted the recipe slightly to be vegan and it turned out great too!
You’ll need a large bowl, 20cm cake tin, baking parchment.
Makes 8-10
Ingredients (when in italics available from the van)
750g mixed dried fruit (approx £4-7 depending on fruit chosen!)
100g whole almonds roughly chopped (£1.40)
100g mixed peel (50p)
200g dried figs (£2.40)
300g plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (approx 13p)
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (approx 13p)
zest 1 lemon
250g lightly salted butter or coconut oil
250g coconut sugar (£2)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon clear honey or agave
1 tablespoon black treacle
4 large eggs or 4 tablespoons of chia seeds mixed with 16 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon bi carb (approx 3p)
1 tablespoon milk
3 tablespoon brandy plus more to feed after bake
Total cost from Incredible Bulk approx £10.59-13.59
Method
Heat oven to 140 C. Line the base and sides of cake tin with double layer of baking parchment.
If doing vegan version pop your chia seeds into a bowl with the water, mix and leave.
In a large bowl mix fruit, almonds, peel and figs. Turn well and add flour, spices and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter/oil and sugar thoroughly, add vanilla, honey and treacle. Still beating add eggs (or chia mix), then stir in the fruit and flour mixture.
Dissolve the bi carb in the milk and add to cake mix. Add the brandy by the spoonful.
Turn batter into the cake tin and make a dip in the middle using the back of a spoon.
Bake for 3.5 hrs, check if cooked, if not give it 10mins and test again.
Once cooked, remove from oven and leave to cool in tin.
Next day remove cake from tin, wrap in fresh baking parchment and put into airtight container or wrap in foil or wax wrap.
Keep the cake for at least a month before icing it, unwrapping and sprinkling further brandy over during the month.
Zero Waste Tips
Find butter wrapped in paper or make your own zero waste vegan butter (we like using a mix of coconut and rapeseed oil with shea butter).
Find refillable milk or make your own zero waste oat or nut version to use.
Buy honey, treacle and brandy in reusable or recyclable glass bottles.
When it comes to finishing your cake, make your own marzipan!