The Christmas cake is a long-standing tradition that started all of the way back in the 16th century! This tradition has been carried through families from all over the world and has many variations depending on the recipes that have been passed down over the years.
The Christmas cake is a very popular item around the holidays with variations of cakes with frosting, mixed spices, powdered sugar, orange zest, other fruits and more!
In England, Christmas cake is a tradition that began as plum porridge. People ate the porridge on Christmas Eve, using it to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon dried fruit, spices and honey were added to the porridge mixture, and eventually it turned into Christmas pudding.
Then, in the 16th century, oatmeal was removed from the original recipe, and butter, wheat flour and eggs were added. These ingredients helped hold the mixture together and in what resulted in a boiled plum cake. Richer families that had ovens began making fruit cakes with marzipan, an almond sugar paste, seasonal dried fruit and spices. The spices represented the exotic eastern spices brought by the Wise Men. This cake then became known as “Christmas cake.”
In Scotland, the traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.
There are other types of accompaniment cakes such as an apple creme cake and mincemeat cakes or pies. Christmas mincemeat is a mixture of dried fruits, spices, sugar and nuts; which can also be steamed and made in to a Christmas pudding. The apple creme cake is made with apples, other fruit, raisins, eggs, cream cheese and whipping cream.
Generally speaking, all Christmas cakes are made in advance. Many people make them in November, keeping the cake upside down in an airtight container. A small amount of brandy, sherry or whisky is poured into holes in the cake every week until Christmas. This process is called “feeding” the cake. The cake will then last for several months and beyond. Richard
Happy Christmas