I love absolutely love making Christmas cake, it’s one of those traditions that takes me right back to childhood, bringing the recipe to life with my mother making a wish as we stirred.
The whiskey gives it flavour and helps really preserves it, but the real magic comes from time. Time to rest, time to deepen, time to become something truly memorable.
Keep an eye out for an upcoming post where I’ll show you the dish this is for, it’s one I think you’ll love☺️
Put butter/margarine, sugar, fruit, rind, juice and one baby bottle of the brandy into a large saucepan.
Slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, until the butter/margarine has melted.
Turn off heat and leave to cool for approx 30 minutes.
Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 140°C/275°F/Gas 1 and line an 8″/20cm round deep cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Stir the eggs, nuts and ground almonds into the fruit mixture and mix well.
Finally, stir in the sieved flour and mixed spice.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth it out evenly – the back of a metal spoon dipped in water is handy for this!
Bake for 2½-3 hours approx. After 2 hours, cover with paper if cake is browning too quickly. To check the cake is done, insert a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
Make holes in top of warm cake and pour over remaining brandy.
Leave cake in tin to cool completely.
When cold, wrap in greaseproof paper and then tinfoil. Store in a cool dry place.
Note:
This mixture can be divided between two 900g/2lb lined loaf tins or two 15cms/6″ round cake tins or a combination of both and will bake in about 1½ hours at the same temperature. This is ideal for those who just want a small cake and the second cake would make a very acceptable Christmas present!
I love absolutely love making Christmas cake, it’s one of those traditions that takes me right back to childhood, bringing the recipe to life with my mother making a wish as we stirred.
The whiskey gives it flavour and helps really preserves it, but the real magic comes from time. Time to rest, time to deepen, time to become something truly memorable.
Keep an eye out for an upcoming post where I’ll show you the dish this is for, it’s one I think you’ll love☺️
You need to make these Christmas Cheesy Potato Stacks from @babyledfeeding 🤤 They are so good and also perfectly safe and soft enough for little babies doing baby led weaning.
Makes 24 Mini Potato Stacks Prep 15 mins Cook time 30 mins
1 kg baby potatoes 2 cloves garlic 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh cream Small handful grated gruyere cheese (plus an extra 3 tbsp) Small handful grated mozzarella 3-4 sprigs thyme leaves finely chopped Small bunch parsley leaves finely chopped 1 tsp onion powder
To serve Extra finely chopped herbs Black pepper to season
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Thinly slice the potatoes and set aside.
Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl, leaving aside 3 tbsp of the gruyere cheese. Stir well, then add in the sliced potatoes and stir until they are fully coated. You may have to use your hands to separate the slices.
Stack the potatoes into a mini muffin tin until they are packed to the top.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, then remove from the oven and, top with a little sprinkle of the extra cheese. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly as this keeps the potato slices together.
Serve with a extra herbs and a sprinkle of fresh pepper.
Watch Neven’s Christmas in Limerick on Thursday, 4 December on RTÉ One at 8pm.
Ingredients
In the first of this two-part special, Neven’s Christmas in Limerick, Neven Maguire prepares Smoked Salmon Galettes, Glazed Rack of Pork with Creamy Roast Potatoes, and No-Bake Chocolate Tart.
Serves 8-10
For The Tart
300g Shortbread biscuits
150g Butter
1 Jar White Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
200g Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
100g Milk Chocolate (38% cocoa solids)
250ml Irish Jersey Cream
For The Citrus Caramel
225g caster sugar
1 tbsp glucose (liquid or powdered)
300ml orange juice
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
Juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 clementine
For Decorating
Amaretti Biscuits, to serve
Crème Fraiche, to serve
Sea Salt, to serve
Citrus Caramel, to serve
Method
For The Citrus Caramel
Place the sugar, glucose and 250ml of water into a heavy-based, high-sided pot.
Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until you have achieved a golden caramel colour. The sugar syrup should be a thick honey consistency, but not too runny.
Add the orange juice slowly, it will boil up vigorously, so take care at this point, whisk until the sugar has dissolved and you are left with a smooth syrup. Whisk in the vanilla seeds, lime juice and clementine juice.
Set aside and allow to cool and use as required.
For The Tart
Blitz the shortbread to a fine crumb (in a food processor or with a rolling pin and zip lock bag) and tip into a large bowl. Melt 100g of the butter in a small pan or in the microwave, then stir into the shortbread crumbs and mix until evenly combined. Press into the base and sides of a 10″ loose base tart tin.
Open the jar of white chocolate hazelnut spread into the microwave for 10-20 seconds (or you can use a pan) to loosen it up, then give it a good stir until smooth. Pour about half of the jar on to the shortbread base and use the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly. Place in the fridge to chill down.
To make the chocolate ganache, put the rest of the white chocolate hazelnut spread into a heatproof bowl along with the dark chocolate, milk chocolate and the remaining 50g of butter. Set over a pan of simmering water and allow the chocolate to melt.
In a small saucepan, gently heat the cream. Once the chocolate has melted completely add the warmed cream. Using a stick hand blender gently blend until combined and silky smooth. Pour into the prepared tart tin, place in the fridge for 2 hours until the ganache is set firm or overnight.
Remove the tart from the fridge 30 minutes before serving. To serve, carefully unmould the tart and put on a plate or cake stand, decorate with the Amaretti biscuits (if desired) cut into slices and serve with a quenelle of crème fraiche and sprinkle of sea salt.
Raspberry jam doughnuts & chocolate fudge doughnuts made freshly today by @jen.allennn in the #ballymaloebreadshed Available in our farm shop today only, open until 5.30pm 👌Edited · 40m
