Lyle’s Christmas Cake: Make 3 Months Before Christmas

Lyle’s Christmas Cake: Make 3 Months Before Christmas. Hello friends. Today I am sharing a guest post from Lyle’s Golden Syrup and Tate & Lyle Sugars.

Lyle’s Christmas Cake:

Are you looking for a Christmas cake recipe anyone? If so I have the perfect recipe to share with you today.

You can make this one up to 3 months before Christmas if you wrap it in foil and keep adding Whiskey onto it.

How to make a Christmas cake step by step instructions:

Lyle’s Christmas Cake: Make 3 Months Before Christmas:

Rich and dark, this wonderful cake is not just for Christmas but is also excellent for a small wedding or christening cake, or indeed just to have as a cut-and-come-again cake.

How To Make A Lyle’s Christmas Cake:

Serves: 12-16

Prep time: 1½ hours

Cooking time: 3½ hours

For The Cake:

12 tbsp whisky or brandy

1 medium orange, juiced & zested

3 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp Lyle’s Golden Syrup

2 level tsp mixed spice

450g (1lb) raisins

225g (8oz) dried cranberries

110g (4oz) prunes, roughly chopped

50g (2oz) glacé cherries, halved, rinsed, dried & finely chopped

110g (4oz) chopped candied peel

50g (2oz) blanched almonds, roughly chopped

250g (9oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

125g (4½oz) Lyle’s Golden Syrup

125g (4½oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Dark Muscovado Cane Sugar

250g (9oz) self-raising flour

5 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

½ level tsp salt

For Feeding The Cake:

about 225ml (8floz) whisky or brandy

For The Decoration:

3 rounded tbsp smooth apricot jam

1 tbsp water

500g (1lb 2oz) white marzipan

Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Cane Sugar, to dust

500g (1lb 2oz) white fondant icing

a few silver edible cake pearls

edible cake glue or Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Cane Sugar & water

You will also need a 20cm (8”) round cake tin, greased and the base and sides lined with a double thickness of baking parchment, plus a double thick layer for covering the top, a 25.5cm (10”) round cake board, a 6cm (2½”) snowflake cutter, ribbon and glass-headed pins.

How To Make A Lyle’s Christmas Cake:

Step One:

Combine the whisky or brandy, the orange juice and zest, vanilla, 1 tablespoon of Lyle’s Golden Syrup and the mixed spice in a large saucepan, and shake to mix.

Add the raisins, cranberries, prunes, cherries, candied peel and nuts. Stir, bring to just under the boil, then reduce the heat down to a simmer and gently cook for 5 minutes, stirring once or twice, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the fruit has plumped up. Leave to cool.

Step Two:

Preheat the oven to 140°C/120° Fan, 275°F, Gas 1 with the shelf set on the middle.

In a large mixing bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together the butter, Lyle’s Golden Syrup and the Tate & Lyle Dark Muscovado Sugar, then add the flour, eggs and salt and mix well until smooth.

Next, stir in the fruit mixture until well combined.

Step Three:

Spoon into the prepared cake tin, level the surface with the back of the spoon and make a gentle hollow in the middle which helps prevent the cake from peaking too much.

Bake for 3 hours then cover with the parchment paper. Bake the cake for a further 20-30 minutes or until the centre springs back when lightly touched.

Step Four:

Cool the cake in its tin for 30 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling and peel off the paper.

If you have the time you can feed the cake with whisky or brandy at intervals over a month to enrich it.

Poke holes in the cake with a fine skewer or cocktail stick and then drip about 2 tablespoons of the alcohol over the top each time.

Wrap in foil between feeding the cake and store in an airtight container where it will last for up to 3 months.

Step Five:

Transfer the cake to the board.

Step Six:

Heat the jam and water in a small pan for 2-3 minutes, stir to combine, then brush all over the cake.

Step Seven:

Roll out the marzipan on a surface dusted with Tate & Lyle Icing Sugar to slightly larger than the cake.

Cover the cake, cut away the excess and leave out to dry. One day later, repeat using the fondant.

Step Eight:

Thinly reroll the excess fondant – you should have about 95g (3½oz) left.

Stamp out 8 snowflakes with the cutter dipping it into a little Tate & Lyle Icing Sugar each time.

Use the edible ‘glue’ to stick the snowflakes around the edge of the cake. Alternatively, mix 1 tablespoon of Tate & Lyle Icing Sugar with a drop of water to make a ‘glue’ and use instead. Using the ‘glue’ stick the silver balls onto the snowflakes.

Leave to dry for a minimum of 2 hours before storing in an airtight container.

To Finish:

Wind the ribbon around the base of the cake, cut to fit and secure with pins and serve.

Lyle’s Christmas Cake: Make 3 Months Before Christmas:

How To Make A Lyle’s Christmas Cake: This recipe is courtesy of Lyle’s Golden Syrup. For more delicious recipe inspiration visit Lyles Golden Syrup.

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Claire Justine

Hi, I am Claire and I created Claire Justine in 2011. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I love writing them. Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts with us.

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