Each year I have been making the same Christmas Cake year after year after year and I still love it and will be making it again some time in the future.
However, I still want to experiment with new things and this year I am making a Christmas Cake based on the older recipe but I have tweaked practically most of the ingredients. Although I love the citrus flavour of the old cake I’ve used candied strawberries, cherry spoon sweet and eggplant spoon sweet. Instead of almonds, I used hazelnuts and I flavoured it with the coffee liqueur I made both inside and also to wet the cake a couple of times. I know that it’s hard to find eggplant spoon sweet abroad but you can add craisins instead, if you like.
This cake needs about a week to be ready, so today I am posting the basic cake recipe and I will update the remaining as I go ahead.
Note: For those who are making a Christmas Cake for the first time, don’t think that it’s too early to make a cake for Christmas, as the Royal Icing seals the cake and it can be preserved for a very long time.
Spoon sweets should be placed in a colander for at least one day prior to preparating the cake.
I changed the almond paste this year by adding some coconut in it. I increased the amount of orange blossom water by a few tablespoons and then added the coconut. See the procedure here.
Royal Icing:
I did not change anything to the Royal Icing. I added the ornaments on top, which this year are all edible and spinkled some coconut on top of the icing.
Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to you all!!
This recipe goes to Cinzia of Cindystar, for her event Baking under the Christmas Tree.
Other relevant recipes:
Kourabiedes with Pistachios (Greek Christmas Cookies)
Melomakarona with Pecans (Greek Honey Cookies)
Amygdalota with white chocolate (No bake Almonds with chocolate)
Tags: Cakes, Cherries, Christmas, Eggplants, Festive, Fruit Cake, Hazelnuts, Strawberries
Last week my oven got bad, so just bought a new oven adn they will bring it tommorw. I still have to make a christmas cake too.
This looks really good.
I baked my Christmas cake yesterday , using cherry liqueur , molasses and all nuts in the world , lol !!!
Yours looks delicious and love the strawberries add
Sounds like your Christmas cake will be incredible! I love the addition of espresso rum brandy liqueur and the candied strawberries!
Ivy, that sounds like a great holiday sweet treat!
A great cake in the making! Love your interpretations of the cake, and looking forward to the finished product
What an original recipe! That cake must taste really good!
Cheers,
Rosa
If I made a cake a few days before Christmas, I'm sure I would like to eat it !
Nuts, cinnamon, strawberries, all I like !
Cake looks delicious!!
Wow…that sounds like the perfect cake…looks awesome!
delicious your cake,ivy!so exciting,christmas is coming!
This looks very nice. I'll follow the developments of your experiment.
I've heard so much about the Christmas cake. Was never sure what it was. This looks delicious! I don't think I could wait until Christmas to eat it! So tempting.
Wow.. strawberries in a Christmas cake.. Ivy this is so original and I am sure you will be making it every year from now on. Save a piece…
Oh my! This must be a heavenly cake with all those wonderful things going in it. hazelnut, strawberries, orange blossom water.. how delicious!
No, I don't think that custard would be a good idea.
This cake brings back memories of Christmas fruit cakes from my homeland … you have convinced me I will be trying your recipe … but maybe not using candied strawberries since I am not sure I will not find any now.
[...] other night when I was making the Almond Paste for the Christmas cake, I had two egg yolks which I wanted to use. I decided that the best way to [...]