Christmas Cake

The first time I ever made a Christmas cake, I must have been 14-years old.  It was in my Food & Nutrtion class I was taking.  Mrs. Gray was our teacher.  She was a proud woman whol loved cooking and all things Scottish.  She appeared to always be agitated my a classroom of 14-year old girls!  I loved her!  On good days, she was maternal and on the bad days, she was just so cranky!  It made all of our classes amusing!

This particular year, Mrs. Gray wanted to have a decorating competition.  All of us needed to put a layer of marzipan onto our cakes.  Then, we made fondant icing and covered all the marzipan.  With out leftover fondant, we colored some of it and shaped it into whatever we desired.

Although I did not win the decorating competition, I was so proud of my cake.  I made a pond with Santa Claus ice skating, "Happy Christmas" on it, and some pine trees scattered across the top.

When I brought the cake home, my mother loved it!  She gobbled it up.  The best part about it is that it stays fresh for months as it is loaded with liquor.

Christmas Cake

1/2 pound butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup sultanas (Golden raisins)

1/2 cup currants

3 eggs

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

5 ounces candied fruit peel

1/2 lemon - zest

sherry

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg etc.)

1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time.

Sift spice with flour and salt. Add some of the flour mixture to the fruit.

Fold the remaining flour into the butter mixture. Gently fold in the fruit, lemon rind and marmalade. Then, add the sherry.

Put mixture in a prepared tin (lined with grease-proof paper).

Bake at 325 or less for about 1 1/2 hours, and then reduce the temperature to 275 until done.

Serving Ideas: Instead of sherry, try rum.

Serve with creme anglais or with a slice of cheddar cheese, melted, on top.

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