Chocolate Alcohol Christmas Cake.

[The Old Foodie]

Chocolate Alcohol Christmas Cake.

I have made this cake for many years, and this year posted it in the Fruitcake thread where some feedback suggested even more chocolate would be good! The original recipe is below, but next time around I am going to substitute a 1/4 cup of plain flour with another 1/4 cup of cocoa, and perhaps add even more chopped chocolate.

A white chocolate variation with red/yellow/orange fruits is also here.

CHOCOLATE ALCOHOL CHRISTMAS CAKES.

1650 gm dried fruit.

1/3 cup honey or golden syrup.

1 cup alcohol of your choice (choc or choc-orange liqueur is good, whisky or brandy or rum)

shredded or grated rind of one orange and one lemon

100gm (at least) of good quality chocolate, chopped up.

125 gm of nuts, if you wish. Pecans are good.

2 cups plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

¼ cup cocoa (good quality Dutch, or Callebaut choc powder is great)

250 gm butter (NO substitutes, good cake needs good butter)

300 gm dark brown (or black) sugar

6 eggs.

Mix the fruits, honey,alcohol, and rinds in a big jar, and marinate as long as possible.

When you are ready to make the cake, sift together the flours and cocoa.

Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

Fold the fruit mixture, the chopped chocolate, and the nuts into the creamed mixture, then fold in the dry ingredients in 2 batches.

Put in the greased tins, decorate the tops with cherries and nuts if you wish.

This makes one 24 cm cake PLUS 6 small cakes made in LARGE muffin tins, or make all small ones.

Time to cook: the small cakes about 1 hour at 120 degrees Celsius, the large one 3 ½ to 4 hours.

Now the very different version, a la Christmas 2005.

LIGHT & BRIGHT CAKE.- Otherwise also known as SUMMER SOLSTICE CAKE.

Make it as above, but instead:

Use all red and yellow fruits – dried cranberries (better than glace cherries I think), chopped dried apricot, peach, pear; crystallised ginger; the pale yellow sultanas.

Use a fruity liqueur – I used peach Schnapps because that’s what I had - and it was fantastic, but Grand Marnier or Curacao would be good I think.

I think I added one teaspoon of vanilla extract too.

Use white sugar (vanilla if possible)

No cocoa, use an extra ¼ cup plain flour instead.

White chocolate of course.

Macadamia nuts (slightly roasted first) instead of pecans.

Pour more of the alcohol of your choice over the cakes as they are cooling, and as often afterwards as you can, until time for eating.

Keywords: Cake, Christmas, Fruit, Chocolate

( RG1894 )