Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2024)

Please wait, the site is loading...

Serves: 20

Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2)Prep time: 45 mins

Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (3)Total time:

Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (4)

Recipe photograph by Ali Allen

Recipe by Rebecca Woollard

Subscribe to Sainsbury’s magazine

The perfect fruit cake, but with added festive warmth from three types of ginger. Follow our tip to make it gluten free

Rate this recipe

Print

See more recipes

Desserts Cakes Make ahead Gluten-free Christmas Gluten-free baking Fruity bakes Christmas cakes Fruit

Nutritional information (per serving)

Calories

373Kcal

Fat

15gr

Saturates

7gr

Carbs

49gr

Sugars

32gr

Fibre

2gr

Salt

0.1gr

Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (7)

Rebecca Woollard

Rebecca Woollard started her culinary career as a chalet cook. She is now a food stylist and recipe writer with 10 years of magazine experience.

See more of Rebecca Woollard’s recipes

Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (8)

Rebecca Woollard

Rebecca Woollard started her culinary career as a chalet cook. She is now a food stylist and recipe writer with 10 years of magazine experience.

See more of Rebecca Woollard’s recipes

Subscribe to Sainsbury’s magazine

Rate this recipe

Print

Ingredients

  • 300g sultanas
  • 200g currants
  • 150g raisins
  • zest and juice of 1 orange
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 175ml whisky (or rum or brandy, if you prefer), plus extra to feed
  • 100g crystallised ginger pieces, diced
  • 100g stem ginger in syrup, diced, plus 4 tbsp syrup from the jar
  • 1 x 200g tub glace cherries, chopped
  • 100g blanched hazelnuts
  • 250g very soft unsalted butter
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 70g-100g light muscovado sugar (100g if you’re making it to mature and 70g if you’re eating it right away)
  • 100g dark muscovado sugar
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 3 tbsp black treacle

Share:

Step by step

  1. Put the dried fruit, citrus zests and juice in a large bowl, stir, then cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through – this is to plump up the fruit. If you don’t have a microwave, put everything in a pan, stirring often over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the whisky, diced gingers, ginger syrup and cherries and mix together. Set aside to soak for a couple of hours, or overnight. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden, then cool, chop roughly and set aside.
  2. Preheat the oven to 140°C, fan 120°C, gas 1. Oil or grease a 20cm diameter, 7cm deep cake tin with a removable base, and line the base and sides with baking paper, making sure it comes at least 3cm above the top of the tin to hold all the cake mix. Cut an extra sheet to cover the top of the cake.
  3. Put the butter, flour, spices, sugars, eggs and treacle in a large mixing bowl with a good pinch of salt and beat together with an electric beater for 2-3 minutes until combined. Add the soaked dried fruit and any remaining liquid, plus the hazelnuts, then mix everything together with a metal spoon. Transfer to the cake tin and level the top. Crumple up the sheet of baking paper, then smooth it out and place loosely over the top of the cake tin (crumpling the paper helps it to mould slightly over the tin and stay in place).
  4. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 4 hours, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out reasonably clean – it might have some fruit on it but shouldn’t have any uncooked mixture.
  5. Leave the cooked cake in the tin for 20 minutes, then turn out upside-down onto a wire rack and remove the baking paper and base of the tin.
  6. Leave to cool completely, then wrap the cake in 2 layers of baking paper, then foil, and keep somewhere cool, dark and dry. Every week or once a month, unwrap the cake and feed it with a few spoonfuls of whisky or rum, with the last feeding about a week before you ice it, so that it isn’t too wet. If you’re making it to serve straight away, it will need a night to firm up before it’s covered with marzipan, and then another night after that before being iced. The cake will also freeze for up to 3 months – wrap in the same way as above, adding a layer of clingfilm over the top. Defrost at room temperature.

    Tip

    How to make it gluten free
    Replace plain flour with GF plain flour, adding 1⁄2 tsp xanthan gum. It’ll need more liquid, so add the juice of an extra orange when you make the cake batter.

    For a smaller cake
    ... halve the ingredient quantities and bake in a deep 18cm round cake tin for 2-2 1⁄2 hours.

You might also like...

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
offerReceive three bottles of wine from the aficionados at Wine52 for just £9.95
offerReceive a craft beer case worth £27 from Beer52 for just £6.95!
winWin a set of The Lost Wife for your book club
winWin tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera, and a night at a four-star London hotel
Whisky & ginger Christmas cake recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Last Updated:

Views: 5797

Rating: 4 / 5 (51 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Pres. Lawanda Wiegand

Birthday: 1993-01-10

Address: Suite 391 6963 Ullrich Shore, Bellefort, WI 01350-7893

Phone: +6806610432415

Job: Dynamic Manufacturing Assistant

Hobby: amateur radio, Taekwondo, Wood carving, Parkour, Skateboarding, Running, Rafting

Introduction: My name is Pres. Lawanda Wiegand, I am a inquisitive, helpful, glamorous, cheerful, open, clever, innocent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.