My Grandmother used to make this Christmas Cake on Christmas Eve. In the morning, you slice it and toast it, spreading it with butter before eating it. It is moist and delicious and hey, it’s got nuts and fruit, so it’s breakfast, right?
This is a very old recipe that I’ve made only a few modernizations to over the years. Because it is old, you’ll want to make sure not to overwork the batter. When my grandmother made it, it was entirely by hand, or with a crank mixer, so when you cream the butter and sugar, take it just to the point of being light and fluffy if you’re using a stand mixer, as I did. Then use the mixer to add each egg, one at a time. After that, add the rest of the ingredients by hand or you’ll end up with a tough and dry cake.
Do not over bake the cake. Most importantly, pour the glaze over while the cake is still hot so it sinks in, but if you’re using a intricate bundt mold, You may want to take the cake out of the mold, place it into a bowl and pour on the glaze. Otherwise the cake may stick to the inside of the pan as it cools.
Crazy thing is this cake is really easy to make, it just takes time to slow cook on a low heat. This cake has a really old fashioned taste and it reminds me of my father who loved this sort of not too sweet breakfast cake. It’s also great in mini bundt pans for tea – for that I add powdered sugar and lemon zest to the glaze and drizzle it over when the cake is cooled so that you get a fancier effect. You can also sprinkle powdered sugar over the top just before serving for a pretty effect.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! The original cake recipe goes back to the 19th century, (though that version contained candied lemon and orange peel rather than raisins).
I’m sending you much love and holiday wishes!
Grandmother’s Christmas Cake
Cake
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
3 cups chopped pecans
3 cups flour, ¼ cup flour separated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Glaze
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 teaspoons anise extract (If you don’t like anise, you can add almond extract)
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time.
Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. Combine raisins, pecans and 1/4 cup flour in a bowl.
Add eggs one at a time. Stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and vanilla. Combine raisins, pecans and 1/4 cup flour in a bowl.
In another bowl combine remaining flour, salt and baking powder. Fold into butter mix alternately with nut mix.
Spoon batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake one hour and fifty minutes. Let cool slightly before removing from pan.
Combine all glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the cake while it’s still hot.
Incorporated but not too light and fluffy. It should still be fairly solid.
This is after the eggs are added, it looks a little like they are curdled. Definitely don’t over work this step.
I give my dry ingredients a quick whisk to incorporate the powder and salt. Easy peasy.
I’m using a spurtle here to mix by hand. These are great for making sure you don’t leave anything at the bottom of the bowl un-incorporated. I got mine on Etsy and I love it.
The batter will be really heavy and chonky.
Having just filled the bowl, it will be lumpy and have air in it.
Tap the cake hard on a surface a couple of time to get out any air holes and then smooth out the top. If you use a smaller bundt pan as I have here, you may want to place a sheet pan on a rack underneath to catch any drips.
Excuse the very pink juice, I had a very juicy and delicious grapefruit on hand so I made the sauce with half grapefruit and half lemon juice. If you want to make the sauce more adult, you can add anise or almond liquor instead of extract.
I should have taken a lovely picture of the cake on a stand with some powdered sugar on top, but my husband didn’t realize I was photographing this and cut out a big slice. Le sigh.
