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Traditional Christmas Cake

A rich, dark fruit cake baked weeks ahead and fed with brandy until Christmas.

By BeneAI-assistedReviewed by BeneRecipes Editor on 23 September 2026Updated 23 September 2026
Prep
40 min
Cook
3 hr 30 min
Total
4 hr 30 min
Makes
one 20 cm deep cake
Difficulty
Involved
Jump to recipe
An iced and decorated Christmas cake
Photo: Crep171166 · CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A traditional British Christmas cake is baked in October or November and "fed" with a little brandy every week or two, which matures the flavour and keeps it moist. It is then covered in marzipan and icing a few days before Christmas.

Ingredients

Soaked fruit (start the day before)

  • 1kgmixed dried fruit
  • 100gglacé cherries, halved
  • 150mlbrandy, plus extra for feeding
  • 1orange, zest and juice

Cake

  • 250gunsalted butter, softened
  • 200gdark muscovado sugar
  • 4large eggs
  • 1tbspblack treacle
  • 250gplain flour
  • 1tspmixed spice
  • 100gground almonds

Equipment

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Method

  1. 1

    The day before, mix the dried fruit, cherries, brandy and orange zest and juice. Cover and leave overnight.

  2. 2

    Heat the oven to 150°C / 130°C fan / gas 2. Double-line a 20 cm deep round tin with baking paper, letting it stand 5 cm above the rim. Wrap the outside with a double layer of brown paper tied with string.

  3. 3

    Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then beat in the eggs one at a time and stir in the treacle.

  4. 4

    Fold in the flour, spice and ground almonds, then the soaked fruit with any liquid.

  5. 5

    Spoon into the tin, level the top and make a slight hollow in the centre.

  6. 6

    Bake for 3–3½ hours, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Cover the top with foil if it browns too quickly.

  7. 7

    Cool completely in the tin. Prick all over, spoon over 2 tbsp brandy, then wrap in baking paper and foil.

  8. 8

    Store somewhere cool and feed with 1–2 tbsp brandy every one to two weeks until you ice it.

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