Last Minute Christmas Cake
Preparation 40 MINS + overnight cooling
Cook SET TIME:2 1/2 HOURS
Serves 16
Method
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir over the heat for 3-4 mins until combined.
Add dried fruit, bicarbonate of soda, rum, cognac and 125ml water and stir well to combine. Increase heat to high and continue to stir until the sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium then cook for a further 4 mins without stirring. Remove from heat, cover and allow mixture to cool overnight.
Preheat oven to 150ºC (130ºC fan). Grease and line a 23cm square baking tin.
Add eggs to the cooled mixture and stir. Add flour and spices and stir well to combine. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 mins before spooning into the prepared tin and smoothing the surface.
Decorate the top of the cake with blanched almonds then bake for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Check your cake every hour to ensure it is not browning too quickly on top. If it is, cover with foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before inverting to remove. To serve, brush with a little apricot jam that has been warmed in the microwave.
This cake can be stored for up to 3 months in the fridge – cover the cooled cake in 2 layers of plastic wrap and foil.
Ingredients
300g unsalted butter
420g dark brown sugar
3 x 375g Sunbeam Mixed Fruit
2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
250ml dark rum
125ml cognac
4 eggs, lightly whisked
400g wholemeal plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
200g Sunbeam Blanched Almonds
Apricot jam, to serve
Recipe Collection
Almond Joy Cookies
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line cookie trays with baking paper.
Beat butter, extract, sugars and egg in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in sifted flour and soda, in two batches. Stir in Sunbeam Flaked Almonds, coconut & chocolate.
Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls; place 5cm apart on trays.
Bake cookies 15 minutes or until golden; cool on trays.
Feel the joy!
Choc Sultana Hot Cross Bun
Preheat oven to 200°C
- Sieve plain flour and mixed spice. Rub butter into the flour until well incorporated and add dry yeast, castor sugar, sultanas, currants and chocolate dots. Add the milk and eggs and mix well. Place on a floured surface and gently knead dough for ten minutes until smooth and velvety. Cover and leave to rise for one hour or until mixture has doubled in size.
- Gently knead for 2 minutes then divide into 12. Gently knead into balls and shape into buns. Arrange in a greased baking tin and leave to rise again for 15 minutes.
- Combine ingredients for flour paste crosses and place in a piping bag. Pipe crosses onto buns.
- Bake for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 170°C and bake for a further 20 minutes.
- Turn onto a wire rack, serve hot with butter, if desired
Pine nut, Sultana & Maple Tart
Place the maple syrup, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and stir to combine them. Add the butter, place the saucepan over med-high heat, and bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl; add the sultanas & allow it to cool for 20 minutes. Whisk in heavy cream, followed by the egg and egg yolk.
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees.
Place the tart shell on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Distribute the pine nuts evenly over the bottom of the tart shell and pour the custard into the shell until it reaches the top of the crust. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until both the crust and the filling have turned light golden brown and the custard is set but still jiggly.
Serve the tart while still slightly warm, or cool it and serve at room temperature. Leftovers will keep, wrapped in plastic, for a few days in the refrigerator.
Mini Fruit Pies
Preheat oven to 180oC
- Place all filling ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool.
- Place almond meal, flour, sugar into a food processor and process until combined. Add butter and egg mixture and process until a ball forms. Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll out pastry between two sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick. Use a round 6cm-diameter pastry cutter to cut 24 circles from the pastry. Line the base of 24-hole non-stick mini muffin pan (or use two 12-hole pans). Fill cases with fruit mince.
- Re-roll pastry and use a 4cm-diameter fluted pastry cutter to cut 24 circles for the lids. Brush the underside of lid lightly with water before gently pressing onto pie. Cut a small cross in the middle of each lid.
- Bake at 180oC for 15 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool and dust with icing sugar before serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Fruit & Nut Biscotti
Heat oven to 180 degrees C. Generously butter or spray bottom and sides of loaf pan with cooking spray.
In large bowl, stir flour, nuts, sultanas, flax seeds, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir in milk. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake 50 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on cooling rack. Transfer to freezer and freeze at least 1 hour, but no more than 3 hours.
Heat oven to 200 degrees c. Remove loaf from pan. Use sharp serrated knife to cut loaf into 1/8-inch thick slices. Arrange slices in single layer on rimmed baking sheets. Bake 15 minutes until golden brown, flipping halfway through baking. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Store at room temperature in airtight container up to 1 week.
Granola Bar
Preheat oven to 160°C.
- Grease and line an 18cm x 28cm slice pan with baking paper.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Mix melted butter and honey together and stir into dry ingredients
- Press mixture firmly into tin using the back of a spoon. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool in the tin before slicing into bars.
