A Christmas Tradition- Mum's Christmas cake

 

As an annual  Christmas tradition, since I had married in 1977 I’ve made a version of my Mum’s Christmas cake as passed down to me. I’m sure this recipe was passed down to my mother when she got married.

I think I let her “off the hook” for fulfilling this seasonal obligation by volunteering to make it each year until she died in 1992.

Mum's Christmas Cake recipe -given in 1977

 

This nearly 70-year-old  recipe is in pounds and ounces but that’s not the only noticeable difference between the ingredients used and the methods of today.  Traditional scales usually convert these measurements for me but this year I tried to go it alone, converting the measurements to grams on my Thermomix -a machine never even dreamt of by my mother.  Only the butter, sugar and eggs can really be accommodated in the bowl. The dry ingredients and the sherry-soaked fruits (hic) take up too much room.

 One of the ingredients listed is the two baby food tins of stewed and pureed prunes. Sadly, or probably thankfully for the modern baby, they are no longer selling in the baby food aisle having been replaced by minced avocado and broccoli or some such thing.  The prunes from memory gave the cake a darker look and were plentiful years ago due to many mothers being obsessed with babies’ bowel movements.

My biggest surprise when I got the recipe from Mum was the fruit-soaking method. I knew the obligatory flagon of McWilliam’s Cream Sherry was purchased in preparation for the fruit plumping each year with the rest left for a few Christmas drinks with the neighbours.  I remember my mother’s mortification one year when the flagon needed replacement before the cake was made! “Robyn, don’t let the neighbours hear about that ”shhhed my Mum. In the olden days, the purchase of the 2-litre flagon was a Christmas expense, a bit decadent and reserved for special occasions only. Sadly today it is a trifle of our annual alcohol expense.

 As I perused the recipe, I checked the sherry requirement. I looked at Mum- is this right? Required for the cake -4 tablespoons of sherry.

                                                   " 4 TABLESPOONS OF SHERRY"

The actual wording was “4 tablespoons sherry (generous)”.  Remembering back to the time we had to replace the sherry I was onto Mum! To be fair modern recipes say along the lines of 14TB of Brandy and 250g Ginger wine.

Another thing I remember is the size of the mixing bowl you needed.  Back then it was a large enamel bowl from the laundry, suitably sterilised. The fruit was soaked overnight. The mixture was much larger than your average cake and, in some families, there may have been a tradition of stirring the mix with a wooden spoon around this big bowl.

I still have Mum’s square baking tin but it is rarely used as no one likes or needs a little slice of fruit cake from the big slab of cake at Chrissie lunch today. The fruit cake baking tin was always lined with layers of brown paper, trimmed and buttered, and then a layer of grease-proof paper. The baking process is simplified today by using only baking paper and a squirt of spray-on oil.  I remember decorating the initial cakes with a sprig of fake holly on top, a pretty pattern of blanched almonds and a frilly red paper decoration around the edges.  Each year the plastic Merry Christmas cake collar was recycled.

 

                   The cake was always decorated with a paper frill and plastic holly leaves on top

Even with the passing of Mum in 1992, I carry on the tradition. Each December I buy the required Sherry, to make a double batch of cake and then use the rest for rum balls, trifles and Christmas truffles. I would describe the 4 tablespoons (generous) as a good glug or two over the mixed fruits stirred and topped up every few days until I have time to make a double batch of cake. Today, it takes in various forms- small cakes, small loaves and ½ loaves to accommodate elderly relatives and extended family.  My family prefers to consume it throughout the January summer holiday, sometimes heated with custard. 

In the absence of an enormous enamel bowl and cringing at the thought of using a laundry bucket I have often used a punchbowl as a suitable reciprocal to marinate and mix.

Christmas cake traditions

Originally in England Christmas cake was made with oatmeal as a sort of porridge eaten on Christmas Eve. Later it evolved into a boiled fruit cake and the addition of eastern spices (cinnamon) to the seasonal dried fruit was associated with the spices brought to Jesus by the three wise men.

It was basically a commonwealth country tradition- dried sultanas from Australia, suet from NZ, apricots from South Africa, spices from Sri Lanka etc

The traditional Christmas cake was a very heavy cake, dark in colour, fairly rich and long life:  kept moist by pumping the fruit prior to cooking and feeding it with alcohol. The tradition was to make it very early and keep it in an airtight container after securing it with holes and putting sherry, brandy or whiskey into the holes every week until Christmas.

From a basic cake, it has morphed and been updated each year by recipe designers and everyone adding their own spin. I’m sure the cake baking was very competitive amongst the Carlingford mothers who brought out slices at pre-Christmas morning and afternoon functions and at neighbourly Christmas and New Year drinks and parties.

I do remember Santa got a slice on Christmas Eve at our Robin Street house along with some of Mum’s shortbread bikkies and a small glass of sherry (if there was any left). Sadly I had to devise my own version of her bikkies. I make loads and loads of these special treats each year. They are possibly more popular than fruit cake.

Sherry -a traditional Christmas aperitif

My sister was born on Christmas Day and didn’t like fruit cake so the Christmas lunchtime cake treat was replaced by that interloper - Pavlova.

 

Pavlova for Helen's birthday 

Later when I met my husband‘s family I found out about other Christmas must-haves such as mince tarts and plum puddings. I was introduced to the ritual of steaming, hanging and “flaming the pud “. Don’t even start me on finding silver threepences. Sadly, I had a deprived childhood of this fun tradition!

After moving to Wollongong, I was exposed to the Italian tradition of eating panettone. Their version of Christmas cake is a much lighter fruit bread style associated with the ending of the 12th night of Christmas around 5 January. I rather like it as an after-Christmas breakfast tradition.

 So while the cakes were in the oven, I wrote this story.  One thing led to another and a bit of research and discovery or two on the internet later…….  Oh my goodness the cakes!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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