Delia's Creole Christmas Cake

This is the easiest Christmas cake to make! My stand mixer lay idle while I stirred and folded, that is a first for me, especially when it comes to the making our Christmas fruit cake! Yes it's true, it didn't plug in any gadgets when I mixed this cake, that alone makes this cake a winner! 

I have been in love with this recipe for a long time, it just screams Christmas with all the spices, alcohol, the chopped nuts and the smell...so Christmassy!

I was slightly dubious about the long list of spirits and lets be honest I was totally put off by the addition of Angostura bitter! It sounded like one of  those dusty bottles that your grandparents would have at the back of their drinks cabinet, stood beside tiny lime green bottles of Snowball or Advocaat!! Remember those? 

Well I thought this year was the year that I would make it no matter what obstacles I faced :) I did some research and discovered that this could be made without any effort. So here is how I got on, remember no electric mixers were used in the making of this sumptuous Christmas cake!! Enjoy.

Easter Simnel Cake

This rich fruit cake, with marzipan filling and decoration is traditionally eaten at Easter or during lent. The golden marzipan balls on the top signify Christ's 11 loyal apostles.The name of this cake comes from the Roman Siminellus, which was a bread eaten during spring fertility festivals, but more commonly it is believed that this cake was made on mothering Sunday by servants girls to take home to their mothers. Either way this is a beautiful moist cake that was devoured by all in this house. Now feel free to use your own faithful fruit cake recipe, add the marzipan and bake as normal or if your want a larger cake then use Delia's Rich Fruit Cake and increase the marzipan to 1kg, this will serve 12-14 people.

Festive Stollen

This is a very detailed recipe, not because it is difficult but because it needs care and attention. Stollen is a German bread baked at Christmas time. It has a  rich buttery crust and the marzipan in the centre is a real surprise. I suggest that you time the rising to coincide with school runs or a large basket of ironing! Two jobs at once.

Jumbo Oat Granola

I was somewhat put off by this recipe when I saw it first because it had so many different ingredients,but to my surprise my local German discounter stocked almost all of the ingredients (which lets be honest is much simpler than going from shop to find specialised ingredients). The honey acts as a preservative so this keeps for weeks at a time.

Makes 1.4kg

Ingredients
500g Jumbo rolled oats
125mls Sunflower Oil
200g Honey
100g Flaked almonds or chopped walnuts
100g chopped cashew nuts
50g Desiccated coconut
100g Pumpkin seeds
100g Sunflower Seeds
1 Tsp vanilla extract
200g - 300g Dried Fruit (Raisins, Pineapple, Sultanas, Apricots, Cranberries)

Method
Preheat the oven to 150C degrees. In a small saucepan (or using a microwave), heat the oil, honey and vanilla extract until warm. Put the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the dried fruit in a large bowl and mix well.

Add in the oil and honey mixture and stir well to ensure it evenly mixed. Spread out on a large baking trays and bake in the oven until golden brown (approx 30 minutes).

 

 

Stir in the oven every 5 minutes or so to brown evenly. Allow to cool fully and add the dried fruit. Store in an airtight container.