{"id":816,"slug":"christmas-cake","title":"Christmas Cake","description":"Christmas cake is a fruitcake traditionally served around Christmas in the United Kingdom, especially after long walks, to be had with tea.","ingredients_raw":["600 g currants","400 g sultanas","400 g glacé cherries, quartered","200 g raisins","100 g chopped candied peel","200 ml sherry","100 ml brandy","50 ml kirsch (or rum)","4 standard (100 g) eggs","300 g lightly-salted soft margarine (The \"Stork\" brand is traditional)","300 g dark brown sugar","100 g self-raising flour","200 g plain flour","100 g finely-chopped almonds","2 teaspoons ground mixed spice","2 tablespoons black treacle"],"ingredients_norm":["currant","sultana","glace cherry","raisin","candied peel","sherry","brandy","kirsch","standard egg","salted soft margarine","dark brown sugar","self raising flour","plain flour","almond","ground mixed spice","black treacle"],"steps":["Place all the fruit in a large bowl and pour the spirits over the mixture.","Cover the bowl in foil and leave in a cool place.","Mix and stir the fruit every day for at least three days; after a fortnight most of the alcohol will have soaked in and further soaking has no benefit.","Beat together the sugar and margarine with the eggs.","Add the almonds and black treacle, and mix further.","Sieve the flours and the mixed spice into the mixture, beating until a smooth mixture results.","Combine with the pre-prepared fruit (above) and place in a cake tin lined with baking parchment.","Bake at a low temperature (140°C / 275°F / Gas mark 1) for at least 4 hours. It may take up to 5 hours, depending on the oven.","Once a knife comes out clean, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully.","Stored in an airtight box the cake should keep for at least four months."],"categories":["Recipes for dessert","Recipes using rum","Recipes for cake","Christmas recipes","Baking recipes","Recipes using almond","Recipes using brandy","Recipes using cherry","Recipes using raisin","Recipes using egg","Recipes using dark brown sugar","Recipes using self-raising flour","Recipes using all-purpose flour","Recipes using kirsch","Recipes using margarine","Recipes using black treacle"],"prep_time_minutes":null,"cook_time_minutes":null,"total_time_minutes":5760,"servings":"10","yield_text":"10-inch cake","difficulty":"medium","source_name":"wikibooks","source_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Christmas_Cake","source_ref":"4599172","authors_url":"https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Cookbook:Christmas_Cake&action=history","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","extraction_confidence":null,"content_hash":"41a6f55f264a97196c437e1dd1e5f72cd9b8c9ce3417db5dd4b0c744a2e123d8","created_at":"2026-08-02T14:42:59Z","updated_at":"2026-08-02T17:11:31Z","notice":null,"url":"https://recipecontextprotocol.com/recipes/christmas-cake"}