Are there any bakers here? Is any body here making their own Christmas Cake?

I still double line my tin, two layers of parchment on the inside and two layers of brown paper on the outside. I have read that it's no longer necessary though as the heat in modern ovens is a lot less intense, compared to years ago. I've always done it, as did my mother, and for the sake of a few extra minutes, I don't want to risk it burning!

I used to always buy Shamrock brand dried fruit, but found the quality went down a few years ago, now it's Dunnes own brand, all the way. Apart from the dark brown sugar, none of the own brands are as dark and as the Shamrock one.

Lots of good tips here... I have given up in recent years as only one in house who like c cake and now Glutenfree. I used to make over Oct weekend when working. Washed the fruit first, dried off in linen towel then soak in whiskey and some orange juice and leave for couple of days til time to do mix. Check fruit and dont make mistake of 'pippy' currants like in my last cake. I made a wedding cake recipe once that called for a tin of strawberries! Yes plenty of protection for the tin when in oven even a lid for top of newspaper/greaseproof paper = removed toward end of cook time. Strong brown paper for outside of tin if you can find it... double layer. Shallow basin of water in bottom of oven helps too...

I think the strawberry recipe was one from Ranks Flour company ( 40 yrs ago?). The regular recipe I used to make was from a booklet supplied by Stork but used butter instead of stork.

We have a north facing room that is never heated and it makes good storage place, we call it the freezer room.

We've a receipe that contains tinned Strawberries.

It was by a woman called Brenda Costigan. I think she's in the Irish version of the WI.

She must have been on Live a 3 in the mid 90's.

My mother mailed them a stamped addressed envelope and they sent her her receipies.

Yep, I get my annual tin in tesco, use half for the cake and bin the rest cos they're disgusting!!

Had to laugh at this! It's true of course, I often wonder does anyone actually buy tinned strawberries to eat or just to use in some sort of recipe as they are so awful it's hard to imagine what you'd do with them. Although I do have a friend who makes her strawberry cheesecake with them, couple of tins whizzed up with a strawberry jelly and some cream, had to choke it down a couple of times!

As to what they add to cake, it's moistness mainly, the recipe I used to have had dark chocolate too, don't know what that added other than darkening colour maybe. Think a tin of prunes might do same thing if liquidised, I'd eat the other half tin with custard but some think prunes gross too!

I honestly don't know. I make if for my dad's family and they all say its exactly like "how mammy made it". For ourselves I use a recipe I got in a baking class. I always mix up the fruit depending on what I have or spot in the shops. So there could be dried cranberries/crystallised ginger or pineapple/apricots or whatever, on top of the usual raisin/currant/sultana/cherries/mixed peel/dates.

Gravy browning - must be to give it a good dark colour! Madness & now it's actually super hard to get gravy browning, seems to be a shortage of late!

@cobham I also use the stork recipe booklet; has never let me down. I do have the ICA Christmas book & I keep saying I must make one of the Christmas cakes out of it. I made Porter Cake from it a few years ago but it wasn't as nice as my Christmas cake.

With all the talk of Christmas cakes, I picked up the first few packets of fruit today for my Christmas baking. I like to add a few packets each week, so it doesn't seem as expensive. Dunnes have always had the baking products 3 for 2, but not this year unfortunately. I usually get started on the baking around the end of September, so I should have enough bought for at least one of the cakes by then.

Do type it out to preserve it if you haven’t already - would be a shame to lose it

Photographed and laminated😀

Our 3 are wrapped and in a dark press since mid September. They're awaiting a sprinkling of brandy which is due any day.

I bought the fruit, just sultanas, not fans of raisins or currents, and the cherries, no mixed peel ( someone doesn't like that😳), in Tesco.

The alcohol in them is dark rum the one with the sailor on the label

As with other posts tin is ancient one but double lined in and out. The recipe is 40+ years old and cakes are excellent (if I say so myself😀).