DOT’S CHRISTMAS CAKE - GLUTEN-FREE
My grandmother, Dorothy Minnie Katoomba Daniel, was a fabulous home-cook. My mother did not inherit the talent. I am lucky to have had Dot’s love of cooking passed on to me.
She made Christmas cakes for the entire family, every single year until her 84th when, sadly, she left us and I inherited the task. Dot always made her cakes in July to allow them to mature until Christmas.
Her cakes were always round and were decorated with whole almonds and glace cherries. I always thought that the round shape was a bit odd for a cake which is rarely, if ever, served in wedges and so her recipe has now morphed into square or rectangular cakes.
My Christmas cake list is now considerably longer than Dot’s ever was and I find her almond and glace cherry decoration too time consuming. Some cakes I leave plain in order to ice them later and the others I top with slivered almonds, glazed with an egg wash. A more modern look me thinks and very speedy.
In her day I’m pretty sure Dot wouldn’t have had to think about gluten-free diets and so her original recipe calls for wheat flour. Our recipe, however, still has all the delicious bones of Dot’s but is 100% gluten-free.
I like to make the cakes in the first half of the year, store them properly, and allow them to mature until Christmas. The latest I’ve ever made them is in October. Last Christmas we cut one which was made in 2021. It was fabulous.
Long may Dot’s Christmas legacy live on.
Rosie
DOT’S CHRISTMAS CAKE
Start this recipe the day before to soak the fruit.
Makes 1 x 23cm square or 2 x 12.5 x 23 cm rectangular cakes
125 ml water
125 ml rum, plus 2 tablespoons extra for brushing
250 gm unsalted butter
250 gm brown sugar
375 gm sultanas
250 gm raisins
250 gm currants
250 gm mixed peel
130 gm glace fruit, chopped (apricots, pineapples, pears etc)
130 gm red glace cherries, halved or quartered
1 large orange, finely grated zest
1 large lemon, finely grated zest
2 teaspoons treacle
½ teaspoon bi-carb soda
5 eggs
400 gm Revenge Gluten-free Almond Plain Flour Mix
1 ¼ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
2 teaspoons guar gum
2 teaspoons mixed spice
½ teaspoon salt
320 gm slivered almonds, optional, for topping
1 egg, beaten optional, for topping
Icing, optional, (see below)
Place the water, rum, butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan over a low heat and bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, place the sultanas, raisins and currants into a colander and rinse thoroughly. Drain well and add to the saucepan along with the mixed peel and glace fruit. Bring to a boil, stirring well.
Remove from the heat and add the orange and lemon zests and treacle. Mix well.
Add the bi-carb soda and mix well. The mixture will bubble up, so ensure your saucepan is large enough to accommodate this.
Cover and allow to stand overnight.
When ready to bake:-
Preheat oven to 130°C fan forced (160°C conventional). Line the base and sides of the cake tin/s with baking paper. Cover the base and sides of the outside of the tin/s with one layer of foil.
Whisk the eggs and mix thoroughly through the fruit mix.
Sift the flour, baking powder, guar gum, mixed spice and salt together. Sift again before folding through the mix ensuring all the flour is incorporated.
Transfer to the prepared tin/s (if you are using two tins allow approximately 365 gm per tin). Smooth the tops.
If the cakes are going to be iced later in the year, then leave them plain.
If topping with the slivered almonds, place the almonds and the beaten egg into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Evenly distribute over the top of the cake/s.
Place in the oven and bake for 50 minutes. Turn the cake/s around (swap their position if baking in two tins) and bake for a further 50 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre of the cake/s comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and brush with the extra 2 tablespoons of rum. Immediately cover the top/s with a piece of baking paper and then wrap the cake/s in several layers of newspaper or brown paper and leave until completely cold. We usually leave them overnight. This ensures that all the moisture and delicious rum fumes remain in the cakes.
When completely cold, remove and discard all the papers including those that lined the cake tin/s and store the cake/s in airtight cellophane bags, in an airtight container, in a cool place.
If stored properly the cakes will last for several years.
TO ICE THE CAKES, optional, in December
For the Almond Icing (which goes under the white icing)
250 gm ground almonds
500 gm pure icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice, strained
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 tablespoons cold water
Pure icing sugar extra for dusting
Sugar syrup or jam, sieved, for brushing
Cardboard cake boards
Place the ground almonds and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined.
With the motor running, add the lemon juice, dry sherry and water and process until the mixture comes together, scraping down the sides of the bowl and drawing up any mixture adhering to the base once or twice during the process. It should have the texture of a slightly moist pastry. If it is crumbly, add more water a teaspoon at a time. Knead the almond icing and shape into a flat-ish disk.
This mixture is enough for two 12.5 x 23cm or one 23 square cakes UNLESS like a number of recipients of Rosie’s cakes you request a double thickness of the almond icing. In which case, double the recipe but you will have to make it in two separate batches.
Divide the mixture into two if you are icing two cakes. Dust a sheet of baking paper lightly with pure icing sugar and place a disk on top. Dust the top of the disk lightly with pure icing sugar, cover with another piece of baking paper and roll out to fit your cake. If the almond icing becomes too sticky to roll, remove the baking paper and dust with icing sugar, turn it over and repeat on the other side. Repeat if necessary.
Place the cake on a cake board (cut 1cm larger than the cake all around).
Very lightly brush the top and sides of the cake with sugar syrup or warmed jam and cover with the almond icing, gently easing it around the corners. Trim off the excess, ensuring that the almond icing completely covers the cake and meets the cake board securely at the edges.
For the White Icing
2 500gm packs of white icing – Orchard brand is gluten-free
Pure icing sugar for dusting
Remove the icing block from the packaging and place on a plate. Place in the microwave and zap for 15 seconds.
Knead on a piece of baking paper lightly dusted with icing sugar, then top with another piece of baking paper and roll out to fit your cake. If the icing becomes too sticky to roll, remove the baking paper and lightly dust with icing sugar, turn it over, repeat on the other side and continue rolling. Repeat if necessary.
Drape the icing over the almond icing, gently easing it around the corners and gently pressing onto the almond icing. Trim off the excess ensuring that the white icing completely covers the cake and meets the cake board securely at the edges. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar if necessary and very lightly rub the surface of the cake with your hands (no rings on) to smooth it out. Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect, the decorations will cover a multitude of sins.
Gently brush off any excess icing sugar with a very clean, dry pastry brush.
To decorate your cake, knead then roll out the leftover white icing and cut into your desired shapes either by hand or using Christmas-y cutters. Very, very lightly moisten the back of your shapes with a very thin dot of water before placing them on the cake.
Allow to stand for a few hours to allow the icing to set before storing the cake/s in airtight cellophane bags in airtight containers. The icing should last more than 6 months.
TIPS:
We like to make the cakes in the first half of the year, store them properly, un-iced, and allow them to mature until Christmas. The latest we’ve ever made them is October. Last Christmas we cut one which was made in 2021. It was fabulous.
We ice our cakes in December.