The Christmas cake

Slice of Christmas cake. (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Part 2

Hi Everyone, this week, we continue our Holiday Baking Success series by looking at the all-important Christmas cake.

The fruits

The secret to an exceptional Christmas cake lies with the fruits. Prunes, raisins, cherries and currants mixed together with rum, port and Cherry Brandy and left to macerate for an extended period of time. For me, 12 months is the minimum. Not to boast but I even have some 3-year old rum soaked fruits. The long soaking of the fruits allows the alcohol to breakdown the fruits and helps them to truly meld. The alcohol itself ages and develops a more complex and delicious flavour that it gets from lying with the fruits. It is this unique and astounding flavour