Císte na Nollag

27Nov

Císte na Nollag

Christmas Cake/Císte na Nollag
It has been a few years since I made a Christmas cake but I had some time lately and felt the urge to fill the house with the smells that only Christmas cake can provide so on Nov 23rd I set about making it having finally got together all the ingredients after a few forays to town ( I was going for other reasons but picked up dried fruit as well!) I had done some vague recipe research on the internet because I really, really don’t like currants, sultanas and mixed peel; the staples of most Christmas Cakes so if you are of similar mind this might be the solution for you! I bought all sorts of stuff hoping to find a recipe to accommodate the non-traditional fruits. I did find a lovely simple one from James Martin and adapted it so here’s my take on it, the mixture tasted really good, and It smelled lovely in the oven, cooked well, but it will be a few weeks before I can say whether it was a total success or not!
Equipment:
Cake tin 20cms
Parchment paper
Newspaper or parcel paper
Good strong cord (the cord on Field’s boxes is the job!)
Chopping board, good sharp knife, pair scissors.
Oven pre-heated to approx. 130C (electric fan oven)
2.2 Lbs or 1 kg of dried fruit and nuts (whatever you like)

below is the mixture I settled on.
150gr dried organic figs
150gr dried organic dates
200gr dried organic cranberries
150gr dried organic apricots
150 gr organic hazel nuts
150 gr whole organic almonds (bit time consuming to blanch/ remove skins)
50 gr dried papaya
50gr mixed peel  (I know but to please a few others the token peel went in!)
4 large organic eggs
200 gr soft brown sugar
250 gr salted butter
150mls your favourite tipple I used brandy but people say that rum is a very tasty variation
Zest and juice of one lemon
Zest and juice of 2/3 sweet clementines
½ tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract ( I am partial to Nielsen- Massey vanilla extract)
100gr ground almonds
100gr flaked almonds (not sure if these were a great addition they may cause a problem when cutting the cake but they do provide a nice crunchy texture)
175 gr white flour 
Spices:
 2tsps of ground cloves
2 tsps ground ginger
2 tsps ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
( I think you should choose whatever spice mix you like, some prefer mixed spice but each to their own!)

Method:
Get your tin ready, line the base and sides with parchment paper (if you have a big enough silicone cake pan they are great because you don’t need to do all that prep. If you use a metal tin make sure your tin is a loose bottomed tin so you can get you cake out without damaging it) surround the outside of the tin with either double layers of newspaper or parcel paper an tie securely. (this prevents the sides of the cake from burning in the long bake.)
Chop your fruit and nuts to the size you would want to eat in a cake.
Get a large heavy saucepan add in the butter and sugar and alcohol and fruit let it all simmer and boil for 5 mins. On a low heat. Keep stirring. Have a taste!! 
Next add your dry ingredients to a bowl. 
Whisk up the eggs.
Add everything together in either the saucepan or a very large bowl, make sure there are no unmixed lumps of flour.
When you are satisfied that it is well mixed put into your prepared tin place in the oven and cook for approx. 2 hours, It may well take longer depending on your oven (my cake took nearly three hours). Keep an eye on the oven, cover the top if the cake with tinfoil if it is in danger of bronzing a bit too much! Check the cake from time to time, stick a skewer or something into it and if it comes out clean it is ready.
Feed you cake with some more brandy or rum.
Let the cake cool in the tin on a rack. Don’t take it out until the next day to avoid any damage to it.
When you are satisfied that it is stone cold wrap in clean parchment paper, go around a few times and then cover with tinfoil.
Every two weeks until the two weeks before you intend to ice it feed your cake with either brandy or rum.
You can cover it with melted apricot jam, then cover with marzipan then add your roll out fondant icing and go crazy or use the traditional royal icing. I am not sure yet what I will cover my cake with but I have a few weeks to decide! will post the end result here!
Happy baking!!

 

 

 

 

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