25 November 2023 , 16:56
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Dame Mary Berry always brings the feel-good factor to cooking – and never more so than at Christmas.
So what better way to mark Stir-Up Sunday today, the date when Christmas puddings are traditionally made before Advent begins, than with her foolproof recipe for the perfect traditional pudding? For some keen cooks, it’s also a good time to bake your Christmas cake, so Mary, 88, has got that covered, too.
So all you need to do now is tell your loved ones not to bother you while you’re whipping up a storm in the kitchen and getting properly into the festive spirit.
Christmas cake... (Daily Mirror)
...from Dame Mary's Baking Bible (Daily Mirror)Classic rich Christmas cake
Serves 12
Ingredients
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- 115g (4oz) red or natural glacé cherries, quartered
- 115g (4oz) ready-to-eat dried apricots, snipped into pieces
- 275g (10oz) currants
- 175g (6oz) sultanas
- 175g (6oz) raisins
- 55g (2oz) candied peel, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons brandy
- 225g (8oz) plain flour
- ¼ level teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 225g (8oz) butter, softened
- 225g (8oz) dark muscovado sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 55g (2oz) chopped almonds
- Scant 1 tablespoon black treacle
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
To finish
- Brandy, to feed the cake
- 675g (1½lb) almond paste or marzipan
- 675g (1½lb) fondant or ready-to-roll icing
To decorate
- Almond paste (left over from putting over the cake)
- Green food colouring
- Icing sugar, sifted
- Ribbon, holly or your favourite decorations
Instructions
1. Begin this cake the night before you want to bake it. Place the cherries in a sieve and rinse under running water. Drain well then dry thoroughly on kitchen paper. Measure all the fruits and chopped peel into a large bowl. Mix in the brandy, cover and leave in a cool place overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 140°C/Fan 120°C/Gas 1. Grease a 20cm (8in) deep round cake tin, then line the base and sides with a double layer of baking paper.
3. Measure the flour, spices, butter, sugar, eggs, almonds, treacle and lemon and orange zests into a large bowl. Beat well, then fold in the soaked fruits.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and then spread out evenly with the back of a spoon. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of baking paper. Bake in the preheated oven for about 4½–4¾ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
5. When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little brandy. Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of baking paper, and again in foil, and store in a cool place, feeding at intervals with more brandy. Don’t remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist. Cover the cake with almond paste or marzipan about a week before icing.
6. Cover the cake with fondant or ready-to-roll icing. Colour the almond paste (left over from putting the almond paste on the cake) dark green. Roll out on a board that has been lightly sprinkled with icing sugar and cut into 2.5cm (1in) wide strips. Cut these into diamonds and then, with the base of an icing nozzle, remove half-circles from the sides of the diamonds to give holly-shaped leaves. Make vein marks on the leaves with a sharp knife, bend the leaves over the handles of wooden spoons and leave to dry.
7. Decorate the top of the cake with the almond-paste holly leaves or your chosen decorations, then dust lightly with icing sugar and finish by tying a ribbon around the sides of the cake.
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Christmas pudding... (Daily Mirror)
From Dame Mary's Christmas Collection (Daily Mirror)Christmas pudding
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
- 75g (3oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 450g (1lb) dried fruit (use a mixture of sultanas, raisins and snipped apricots)
- 1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (about 175g/6oz)
- Finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
- 50ml (2fl oz) brandy or rum, plus extra for feeding and flaming
- 100g (4oz) light muscovado sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100g (4oz) self-raising flour
- 1 level teaspoon ground mixed spice
- 40g (1½oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
- 40g (1½oz) whole shelled almonds, roughly chopped
Instructions
1. Lightly butter a 1.4litre (2½ pint) pudding basin. Cut a small square of foil and press into the base of the basin. Measure the sultanas, raisins, apricots and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured brandy or rum and leave to marinate for about 1 hour.
2. Put the measured butter, sugar and grated orange rind into a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or a hand-held electric whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
3. Sift together the flour and mixed spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and the nuts. Add the dried fruits, apple and liquid and stir well.
4. Spoon into the prepared pudding basin, pressing the mixture down, and level the top with the back of a spoon. Cover the pudding with a layer of greaseproof paper and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil with scissors.
5. To steam, put the pudding in the top of a steamer filled with simmering water, cover with a lid and steam for about 8 hours, topping up the water as necessary. To boil the pudding, put a metal jam-jar lid into the base of a large pan to act as a trivet. Put the pudding on to this and pour in enough boiling water to come one-third of the way up the bowl. Cover with a lid, bring the water back to the boil, then simmer for about 7 hours, until the pudding is a glorious deep brown colour, topping up the water as necessary.
6. Remove the pudding from the steamer or pan and cool completely. Make holes in the pudding with a fine skewer and pour in a little more brandy or rum to feed. Discard the paper and foil and replace with fresh. Store in a cool, dry place.
7. On Christmas Day, steam or boil the pudding for about an hour to reheat. Turn the pudding on to a serving plate. To flame, warm 3–4 tablespoons brandy or rum in a small pan, pour it over the hot pudding and set light to it. Serve with rum sauce, boozy cream or brandy butter.
If cooking with an Aga:
To cook, bring to the boil on the boiling plate, cover with a lid and transfer to the simmering oven for about 12 hours. To reheat, tightly wrap the cooked pudding, in its bowl, in a double layer of foil and sit it next to the turkey in the simmering oven, from early morning. Leave it for several hours and it will slowly reheat and be piping hot at the end of the meal.
Preparing ahead:
Make and cook the pudding 6–8 weeks before Christmas. As it does take a fair time to steam, make things easier for yourself by preparing the pudding up to the end of step 4 the day before. Keep the pudding in a cool place overnight, and steam as directed the next day.
Cover the cold pudding with fresh greaseproof paper and foil, and store in a cool place until Christmas. You can also freeze Christmas pudding, but as it stores so well it doesn’t seem worth it! If it really helps you to freeze it, then allow it to mature for a month before freezing.
Extracted from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible by Mary Berry, £28, published by BBC Books.