Those who make Christmas cakes year in and year out know of the importance of preparing it well in advance. This recipe for a scrumptious and luxurious cake is filled with everything you’d expect from a traditional Irish Christmas cake recipe. Though the list of ingredients is long and there are many steps that place over a few days, believe us when we say that it’ll be worth it! Ingredients: Fruits for the filling -

• 450g sultanas
• 225g currants
• 225g raisins
• 110g of glace cherries (not chopped)

Spices and seasonings:

• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• ½ tsp of vanilla essence
• ½ tsp of ground mixed spice
• ½ tsp of salt

Nuts, fruits and other essentials:

• Zest and juice of one lemon
• Zest and juice of one orange
• 280g of quality Irish butter, unsalted
• 60g of ground almonds
• 1 tbsp of treacle
• 4 tbsp of quality Irish Whiskey
• 230g of soft brown sugar
• 280g of all-purpose flour
• 5 eggs

Day One: Preparing Your Fruit and Cake Tin We’d recommend that the night before you plan on starting your Christmas cake to put all the ingredients EXCEPT the sugar, flour, butter, eggs and salt into a bowl and combine them well. Keep in a cool place, cover your mix and leave all the fruits to soak in the whiskey overnight. To prepare your circular cake tin, line it with greaseproof/baking paper that’s been smeared with butter but let the paper fall over the top of the tin! To secure the extended bits of paper over the fold, use string. At this stage, you shouldn’t be able to actually see the body of the tin. Day Two: Cooking up the Mixture

1. Preheat your oven to 150°C
2. Add your butter and brown sugar into a bowl and combine the mixture until it becomes pale brown in colour.
3. Add your eggs one at a time and make sure you mix well before you add the next, to prevent any curdling.
4. Sieve the all-purpose flour and salt together into the bowl and then fold this into the mix but don’t use an electric or hand mixer because it will cut up the ingredients. Fold by hand.
5. Add in the fruit that was soaking overnight and fold in again by hand. Your final mixture should be quite thick and a bit sticky.
6. Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and smooth is with a rounded knife.
7.  Fold over and cover the top of the tin with the bits of brown paper you left loosely hanging over the sides.
8. Pop your cake into the oven and cook steadily for 3 ½ hours – don’t open the oven no matter how tempted you might be!
9.  To check that the cake is cooked, insert a metal skewer into the centre of the cake. If it’s dry, the cake is done but if it isn’t pop it back into the oven for an extra 20 minutes but keep an eye on it.
10. When the cake is finally done, take it out carefully and set it aside to cool in the tin.
11. Remove the cake from the tin – we’d recommend using a palette knife.
12. Whiskey at the ready? Turn your cake upside down and with a thick skewer pierce it with several holes.
13. Pour ½ tsp of whiskey into each niche. You’ll have to repeat this process every week in the run up to Christmas! This can total to about 6 feeds.
14. Remember to rewrap the cake with brown and silicone paper each time you feed.

Day Three: Feeding the Cake with Whiskey!

1. Remove the cake from the tin – we’d recommend using a palette knife.
2. Whiskey at the ready? Turn your cake upside down and with a thick skewer pierce it with several holes.
3. Pour ½ tsp of whiskey into each niche. You’ll have to repeat this process every week in the run up to Christmas! This can total to about 6 feeds.
4. Remember to rewrap the cake with brown and silicone paper each time you feed.

Optional: Icing for the top of the cake. Some Christmas cakes are left un-iced but it’s all down to personal preference! Christmas cakes can keep for months and months if you wrap and store them correctly. By rewrapping your cake in greaseproof paper that’s held in place with strong and then covered with tinfoil, your cake should keep. Place in an air-tight tin like a biscuit tin or something similar. Your Christmas cake will be the envy of all guests to your home this festive season! Have the Perfect Christmas with Littlewoods Ireland