This article was originally published in November 2019.

READER RECIPE: Our family would happily eat Christmas cake all year round.

I’m a huge fan, but it didn’t come easily. A good Christmas cake is enjoyed like red wine – you need to acquire a taste for it, and if you haven’t tried one you like yet, there’s hope for you yet.

Supermarket Christmas cakes have their merits; the work is done for you, and they have a huge shelf life. The most attractive thing about the store bought variety is that they often work out to be cheaper than the homemade sort, when taking weight into account.

However, is it just me or have supermarket Christmas cakes deteriorated in recent years? Less fruit and more fluff.

I can name professional cake decorator as a former career of mine, so I’ve made quite a few varieties. I have come to realise that it all depends on what you like. There are so many different recipes, and one thing I’ve found interesting is that there are different traditions in families, and Christmas cake recipes are often passed down through the ranks.

There is no one right recipe. From Aunty Mary’s ginger ale recipe, to great Nana’s brandy-laden variety. Some are dark and dense, some are essentially, a light fruit cake. Some love peel, others hate it. For some, the cherries make it, others pick them out.

Some like theirs in brandy butter icing, others love marzipan, and for the purists, naked is the only way. I’ve even heard of a swathe of butter on slices of Christmas loveliness.

The recipe I have provided below, is one that I use year after year. It never fails, and never fails to impress. It appeals to a wide scope of “fruit cake-o-philes” and is so easy.

It came from a parent in a kindergarten cook book in 2002, and I’ve made it ever since. Don’t be put off by the amount of ingredients; these are all easily obtainable, just write a list and systematically go through your supermarket to find them.

I usually double, triple or even quadruple this recipe. There are merits in making several at once.

Christmas cakes need long slow cooking, so it makes sense to fill your oven with as many as you will eat or gift during the Christmas period to make the most of using that four hours of electricity.

Dried fruit is often cheaper in bulk, so buy in bulk and make in bulk.

When icing your cakes it’s just as easy to ice four as it is to ice one.

Time: All done in one hit.

Recipe –

1 cup water

1kg mixed dried fruit – your choice

240g butter

Small tin crushed pineapple

1 tablespoon mixed spice

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon marmalade

Boil the above ingredients together in a large soup pot until combined and thick.

Remove from heat and allow to cool a little, approximately 20 minutes.

At this stage, preheat your oven to 120 degrees Celsius then add the following to the pot:

1 tin condensed milk

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sherry, rum or whiskey

Combine thoroughly

Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 8″-10″ square tin (the size of tin depends on how deep you want your cake).

A square cake is much easier to cut into small pieces but by all means make a round cake if you prefer. This can also be made into mini cakes for gifts – large smoked fish tins are great for this. Just remember the smaller the cake the less cooking time it will require.

To test for readiness, insert a skewer or piece of raw spaghetti and when this comes out of the cake clean, the cake is cooked.

Bake for four hours and just enjoy the amazing smell that will infiltrate your house.

Ice when cold with marzipan (I use Bakels almond) or brandy butter icing.