My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


500g (1 lb) butter
500g (1 lb) Brown Sugar (the darker the better)
2 level tablespoons Mixed Spice
2 level dessertspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
12 eggs
500g (1 lb) Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1kg (2 lb) Seeded Raisins
500g (1 lb) Sultanas
500g (1 lb) Currants
225g (1/2 lb) Mixed Peel
225g (1/2 lb) Cherries (I used Glace' cherries)
225g (1/2 lb) Almonds
4 tablespoons Wine or Brandy
1&1/2 cups combined red wine and brandy extra


Cream butter sugar and spices together, add egg yolks and beat well.
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites alternatively with sifted flour and
baking powder. Add grated rind and fruit and nuts. (Chop the cherries up
and whizz the almonds (if whole) in a food processor). Lastly, add all
the booze and mix.

Grease and line your biggest cake tin with baking paper (mine's a 9"
square and as you saw from the pics, still wasn't big enough!!).

http://tinyurl.com/2o77tk

Bake approx 5 hours at 120C (250F) and then 2 hours at 100C (200F)


Note: With the egg whites, I put them and the flour in the mix in 3
batches. The egg whites won't properly 'assimilate' by themselves so
rather than spend too long trying to make them mix in, throw some flour
in with them.
And with the extra 1&1/2 cups of booze, mix them together in whatever
quantities you want, and even add more if you wish... it'll just make
the cake moister :-)

My mix was predominately brandy with about 1/2 cup red wine...... it was
*good* red wine, and I wanted to save it for drinking!!


--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing.

Edmund Burke.

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)

Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery),
dried peppers, etc.
not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I thought
maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

It's very thoughtful of you to take on your SIL's tradition.

gloria p

Puester wrote in
:

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she
used to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time
for the family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has
passed on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older
sister, to me. She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance,
and let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give
the BIL one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down
south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)



If he likes fruitcake, he'll *love* this one :-)

Is that true? Most Yanks don't like fruitcake?
I take it you're not a Yank?



Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery),
dried peppers, etc.
not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I thought
maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

Had a quick look......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_spice


http://womansday.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=177043

http://www.mccormick.com.au/productdetail.cfm?ID=5104

http://www.gourmetshopper.com.au/sho...?productid=224

http://www.masterfoods.com.au/produc...528&ProdCat=17


Seems they all have different versions.
And it seems you can't get it in the States for love, nor money.

I can always drop some in the mail :-)

--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke.

Arri London wrote in :




Pumpkin pie spices with a little tweaking would work. Cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, coriander, ginger, allspice etc. Anything you'd make
'spice cake' with would also do.



Looking thru the McCormicks site, I can't believe they still have blends
that contain MSG!!

http://www.mccormick.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6001


--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Edmund Burke.

On Thu 03 Apr 2008 07:07:40p, Puester told us...

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)

Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery),
dried peppers, etc.
not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I thought
maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

It's very thoughtful of you to take on your SIL's tradition.

gloria p


There are varying combinations depending on the brand of "mixed spice" you
buy in the UK. A British friend sent me this "recipe" several years ago
and I use it in fruitcake, mincemeat, and even in my pumpkin pies.

1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Mace
1 teaspoon Allspice
1 teaspoon Cloves
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

It's even nicer if you can use whole spices and grind them all together.
The taste is much brighter and fresher.

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 04(IV)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Countdown till Memorial Day
7wks 3dys 3hrs
-------------------------------------------
Humans exist so cats will have someone
to pet them.
-------------------------------------------

Wayne Boatwright wrote in
3.184:

On Thu 03 Apr 2008 07:07:40p, Puester told us...

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end
of the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she
used to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in
time for the family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1
cake), and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!)
has passed on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older
sister, to me. She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance,
and let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give
the BIL one to take back home to share with his kids and friends
down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)

Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery),
dried peppers, etc.
not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I thought
maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

It's very thoughtful of you to take on your SIL's tradition.

gloria p


There are varying combinations depending on the brand of "mixed spice"
you buy in the UK. A British friend sent me this "recipe" several
years ago and I use it in fruitcake, mincemeat, and even in my pumpkin
pies.

1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Mace
1 teaspoon Allspice
1 teaspoon Cloves
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

It's even nicer if you can use whole spices and grind them all
together. The taste is much brighter and fresher.



Thanks for that Wayne. I might even give it a whirl instead of buying
the pre-packaged stuff.



--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing.

Edmund Burke.

Puester wrote:

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.

That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)

Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery),
dried peppers, etc.
not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I thought
maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

It's very thoughtful of you to take on your SIL's tradition.

gloria p


Pumpkin pie spices with a little tweaking would work. Cinnamon, nutmeg,
cloves, coriander, ginger, allspice etc. Anything you'd make 'spice
cake' with would also do.

On Thu 03 Apr 2008 09:15:05p, PeterLucas told us...

Wayne Boatwright wrote in
3.184:

On Thu 03 Apr 2008 07:07:40p, Puester told us...

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end
of the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she
used to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in
time for the family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1
cake), and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!)
has passed on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older
sister, to me. She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance,
and let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give
the BIL one to take back home to share with his kids and friends
down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)

Question: What is mixed spice? Mixed spice in the U.S. is
pickling spices,
like bayleaf, various aromatic seeds (mustard, celery), dried
peppers, etc. not something I'd expect to find in fruitcake. I
thought maybe cinnamon and
nutmeg, but I see those listed separately.

Any ideas?

It's very thoughtful of you to take on your SIL's tradition.

gloria p


There are varying combinations depending on the brand of "mixed spice"
you buy in the UK. A British friend sent me this "recipe" several
years ago and I use it in fruitcake, mincemeat, and even in my pumpkin
pies.

1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Mace
1 teaspoon Allspice
1 teaspoon Cloves
1 teaspoon Ginger
1 teaspoon Coriander Seeds

It's even nicer if you can use whole spices and grind them all
together. The taste is much brighter and fresher.



Thanks for that Wayne. I might even give it a whirl instead of buying
the pre-packaged stuff.




My pleasure, Peter... Enjoy!

--
Wayne Boatwright
-------------------------------------------
Thursday, 04(IV)/03(III)/08(MMVIII)
-------------------------------------------
Countdown till Memorial Day
7wks 3dys 2hrs 30mins
-------------------------------------------
I try to make everyone's day a little
more surreal. -Calvin.
-------------------------------------------

On Fri, 4 Apr 2008 02:49:37 +0000 (UTC), PeterLucas
wrote:

Is that true? Most Yanks don't like fruitcake?
I take it you're not a Yank?


I eat fruitcake

--
See return address to reply by email
remove the smile first

PeterLucas wrote:

Arri London wrote in :



Pumpkin pie spices with a little tweaking would work. Cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, coriander, ginger, allspice etc. Anything you'd make
'spice cake' with would also do.


Looking thru the McCormicks site, I can't believe they still have blends
that contain MSG!!

http://www.mccormick.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6001

--
Peter Lucas


Easy to buy large tins of the stuff in any of the local Asian groceries.

Arri London wrote in :



PeterLucas wrote:

Arri London wrote in news:47F5AF1D.D129CB32
@ic.ac.uk:



Pumpkin pie spices with a little tweaking would work. Cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, coriander, ginger, allspice etc. Anything you'd
make
'spice cake' with would also do.


Looking thru the McCormicks site, I can't believe they still have
blends
that contain MSG!!

http://www.mccormick.com/productdetail.cfm?id=6001

--
Peter Lucas


Easy to buy large tins of the stuff in any of the local Asian
groceries.




MSG has been a bit of a leper in Oz for quite some time.



--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do
nothing.

Edmund Burke.

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


I've snipped and saved. I may try this...I'm just worried that it won't
make it until Christmas...

Many condolences for the loss of your sister.


--
-Gina in Italy

http://www.myspace.com/ravenlynne1975
I'm a blogger: http://ravenwolflodge.blogspot.com

PeterLucas wrote:
Puester wrote in
:

PeterLucas wrote:
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she
used to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time
for the family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has
passed on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older
sister, to me. She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance,
and let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give
the BIL one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down
south.


Peters Christmas Cake.

That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the
few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)



If he likes fruitcake, he'll *love* this one :-)

Is that true? Most Yanks don't like fruitcake?
I take it you're not a Yank?

Most don't because most are gifted with the crap that is called
"fruitcake" that is sold at supermarkets. Horribly hard and dry with a
bunch of fake fruit.

--
-Gina in Italy

http://www.myspace.com/ravenlynne1975
I'm a blogger: http://ravenwolflodge.blogspot.com

"PeterLucas" wrote in message
0.25...
My recently widowed BIL is coming up to stay for awhile at the end of
the month, and his SO was the Christmas Cake maker in the family.
Somewhat of a tradition, it was. Even when living in England, she used
to make a huge cake and send it to the family here in Oz in time for the
family Christmas get-together.

I made a cake for us last Chritmas (the first one without a K1 cake),
and my SO (who doesn't like fruit cake, but loved this one!!) has passed
on the Family Christmas Cake Maker honour from her older sister, to me.
She told me that K1 would have been proud of my cake.


So............... this year I'm going to make them well in advance, and
let them 'mature' in the cupboard till Christmas time. I'll give the BIL
one to take back home to share with his kids and friends down south.


Peters Christmas Cake.


500g (1 lb) butter
500g (1 lb) Brown Sugar (the darker the better)
2 level tablespoons Mixed Spice
2 level dessertspoons Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
12 eggs
500g (1 lb) Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Grated rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1kg (2 lb) Seeded Raisins
500g (1 lb) Sultanas
500g (1 lb) Currants
225g (1/2 lb) Mixed Peel
225g (1/2 lb) Cherries (I used Glace' cherries)
225g (1/2 lb) Almonds
4 tablespoons Wine or Brandy
1&1/2 cups combined red wine and brandy extra


Cream butter sugar and spices together, add egg yolks and beat well.
Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites alternatively with sifted flour and
baking powder. Add grated rind and fruit and nuts. (Chop the cherries up
and whizz the almonds (if whole) in a food processor). Lastly, add all
the booze and mix.

Grease and line your biggest cake tin with baking paper (mine's a 9"
square and as you saw from the pics, still wasn't big enough!!).

http://tinyurl.com/2o77tk

Bake approx 5 hours at 120C (250F) and then 2 hours at 100C (200F)


Note: With the egg whites, I put them and the flour in the mix in 3
batches. The egg whites won't properly 'assimilate' by themselves so
rather than spend too long trying to make them mix in, throw some flour
in with them.
And with the extra 1&1/2 cups of booze, mix them together in whatever
quantities you want, and even add more if you wish... it'll just make
the cake moister :-)

My mix was predominately brandy with about 1/2 cup red wine...... it was
*good* red wine, and I wanted to save it for drinking!!


You can also leave out the booze but spoon a couple tablespoons over the
cakes about once a month.

Paul

PeterLucas wrote:
Puester wrote in
:


That sounds like something my husband would like. (He's one
of the few Yanks I know who likes fruitcake.)



If he likes fruitcake, he'll *love* this one :-)

Is that true? Most Yanks don't like fruitcake?
I take it you're not a Yank?

I believe it depends on their experience with it. I wasn't
brought up
with it--the Portuguese immigrants had an entirely different
style
of baking--but my husband's mother always made or bought it
until she was in her dottage.

It depends on your definition of Yank. I was born in
Massachusetts,
a first generation Yank, but my heritage is Portuguese.


Question: What is mixed spice?

Any ideas?


Seems they all have different versions.
And it seems you can't get it in the States for love, nor money.

I can always drop some in the mail :-)

Thanks for the offer, but reading a few of your websites, I
think I
can successfully fake it with a variety of baking spices.

gloria p