One of my favourite Christmas traditions is to bake our cake and plan it’s final decoration.  I always aim to make it 5-6 weeks before Christmas but I'm happy if it's had a good glug of brandy a few times before decorating.  You could probably buy a cake of this size cheaper in a supermarket but I can assure you it won’t taste as nice and the compliments you’ll receive will have you grinning from ear to ear. 

INGREDIENTS:

225g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

Grated fresh nutmeg or 1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

200g unsalted butter

200g brown sugar

2 tbsp black treacle

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

800g mixed dry fruits

100g chopped mixed peel

150g glace cherries halved

100g blanched almonds, chopped

Brandy (or other if you prefer)

 

METHOD:

Heat oven to 150c fan, (slightly higher for non fan) and then grease and line a 20cm round or 18cm square tin.

Sieve flour, salt and spices into a bowl.

In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together and then add the treacle and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs alternating with a little flour mix so it doesn't curdle.

Fold in the rest of the flour and then add the fruit and almonds.

Pour in the tin and make a slight hollow in the middle.

I always put greaseproof paper around the outside of the tin and put a piece on top of the cake tin to stop it burning around the edges.

Pop it in the oven for a good 2 and a half hours and enjoy the festive smell coming from the kitchen.  I find sometimes it takes longer and so I check every 15 - 20 mins.  This year mine was bang on 3 hours.

Once it's on a cooling rack you need to use a skewer to put holes all over and then spoon a few tablespoons of brandy in (if applicable).

Make sure the cake is completely cold before you wrap it in greaseproof paper and then foil before putting it in an airtight tub or cake tin.  Once a week from now until Christmas I’ll open it up, prick it again and put a couple more spoonfuls of brandy in.

In our house we seem to play an annual game called ‘hide the brandy from daddy' and every year he finds my little bottle and drinks it just for fun.  It has become a tradition as I find somewhere new to store it and my husband loves the challenge of trying to find it.  I would hide it in the car if I wasn’t worried about being pulled over by the Police!

Christmas cake for me has to have marzipan and royal icing on but I normally use fondant for ease and add then I'll add royal icing here and there if I can.  Before I had my son, the cake was always simple for family coming over but now I really try and get a ‘wow’ factor and love the decorating part.

Last year’s cake was my favourite so far with a simple white decorated cake which was topped with a homemade gingerbread house.  I especially loved this one as I gave it stained glass windows and then put battery operated fairy lights inside which I turned on just before presenting it.  We had both families over for Boxing Day and as I walked in the kids mouths fell open and I’ll never forget my son looking at me with pleading eyes and whispering "can I eat it?" 

Note made in 2017: Since writing this blog post I thought it would be nice if we made individual cakes for teachers gifts and so my son helped to bake the cake and then nearer the end of term we cut a third off and then cut the smaller piece into 3.  My son lovingly put the marzipan and fondant on before decorating it with festive cutters and then I wrapped them individually in cellophane and added beautiful ribbons.  Now that I was left with a lovely rectangular shape, I thought I would make a large gingerbread house and built it around the iced cake.  The result, if I may say so myself, was that it looked pretty impressive!

If you do try to make one, give the house a little back door and feed some battery operated fairy lights in.  The battery pack can then be kept at the back of the house and switched on before presenting to the family.  Some more fun cakes I have made over the years include Santa getting stuck down the chimney, penguins playing with snowballs and a simple snowman.

PS, I feel I should have some sort of disclaimer, like 'I hold no responsibility for any cakes burnt or undercooked'.  I've had plenty of disasters in the kitchen and like to have someone to blame when I get caught up watching something juicy on TV!  Just remember every oven is different so you need to do the skewer test a few times before taking it out of the oven for good.  (Oh and don't be alarmed if you can smell a burnt raisin, there's bound to be one that'll catch).

In October I was approached by a lovely lady from RSPB Radipole Lake in Weymouth as they were looking to promote the children’s activities they offer and asked if myself and other Dorsetmums would like to have a little tour of the Reserve followed by some yummy tea and cake.  I was pretty much sold on the word ‘cake’ but I was also very intrigued to see what was there and jumped at the chance to explore somewhere new.

I was a little nervous that myself and my son would be on our own but lucky for us 8 lovely mums and their babies/toddlers arrived and everyone was in a great spirit and instantly started chatting to each other.  Once we had everyone our organiser started to lead us out of the Centre and we went on a fantastic 1 mile circular walk around the Reserve.  It seems very odd to see so much wildlife and then look up to see the Weymouth buildings in the distance.  It really is a little haven in the middle of a great seaside town. 

We were told all about the birds and other wildlife which can be seen and we were shown other routes we can take should we wish to walk further next time.  The toddlers all seemed to love the boardwalks and areas where they could look out on to the water plus we also found the most amazing little picnic spot with wooden tables, chairs and sculptures. 

An hour or so later we arrived back at the Centre and all sat down for some delicious goodies.  Myself and my son shared a delicious hot buttered tea cake and a piece of Dorset Apple Cake however there were other cakes to choose from plus scones and savoury food.  

You can tell they have thought very hard about what they can offer children to teach and entertain the children.  While we were there they had a table set up with play doh and some fantastic artwork on display plus a corner full of books and toys. 

On the other side of the room they had a display cabinet full of exciting finds like bugs, butterflies bones, feathers and snake skins.  My son was absolutely engrossed while a volunteer talked and showed him each and every one (while I quietly prayed that he wouldn’t crush whatever it was in his hand)!  He also enjoyed the huge telescope although we told him about 10 times that he was looking through it the wrong way but he kept saying that’s how he liked it!

Good to know.....

• The Centre offers free pond dipping, bug hunting and binocular/nature detective backpack hire for children all year round plus free children’s activities and books/games are in the Centre every day.*

• The Centre is available for hire in the evenings and they can also run educational sessions for schools/groups (costs apply).

• Maps and leaflets can be found in the Centre should you wish to take a longer walk and read all about the area.

• There are toilet facilities within the Centre including a baby change table.

• You can purchase duck food from the Centre which the children will love.  Be warned though, they are hungry and the birds will do what they can to get to it first! (I was tempted to get the camera out when a bird landed on my son’s head but thought it best to try and shoo it off instead).

• Baby wipes and anti-bac hand gel are advisable for walking around the Reserve.

• The pathways are perfectly accessible for pushchairs so you may wish to consider taking one if little legs get tired easily.

• Location – If driving, head to the pay and display Swannery Car Park in Weymouth which is opposite the Jubilee Retail Park and you will see the Centre at the far end.  

Thank you again to the lovely staff and volunteers at the RSPB Radipole Lake, all of the mums told me they had a wonderful time and we look forward to coming back again one day.