The FastDay Forum

Is it time yet? I left it really late last year and made one for the first time since I was 11 I think as I have procrastinated over it so much each year and never got it together. It was gawjus but a monster and took us months to eat. I used the Mary Berry recipe for I think a 9" tin. Really enjoyed making and decorating it.
I saw an idea where you can cut the middle out and decorate them individually thus making two cakes, a small round one and a ring one.

Any ideas anyone? Which recipe shall we use? When shall we make a start? Shall we have a bake off?

Over to you

Think I made Delia's last year. I made about 5 mini ones in tin cans that had B&M bargains kidney beans in them. They were bigger than baked bean cans, which I thought were too small. I put them in hampers for family pressies. I may be up for a bake off. It may motivate me to get started and not leave it until five days before.

I suspect St Michael is going to make mine. Home made is always so big!

I usually make about 200 Christmas cakes: the majority of those are individual or small ones. I make nut free cakes for some (people who don't eat nuts and elderly people who can find them tricky).

I usually make a selection of Dan Lepard's Caramel Christmas Cake; Mary Anne Boerman's Keep Cake; Konditor & Cook's Figgy Fruit Loaf. I'd like to make black cake some time and I like Dan Lepard's Dundee Cake. The Keep Cake and Figgy Fruit Loaf are both packed with fruit, a very plain batter just to hold the fruit together and no alcohol: both of these work splendidly with cheese (for those of us in the UK who serve cheese with fruit cake ). These last two are also the size of the average loaf cake so are good gifts for small families (for single people or couples, I make these in small individual loaf tins).

[janeg]

OOOH! I had intended to make mine this weekend but ended up diving two days instead
So it's on the cards for next week.
I do one every year and try to make it the first week of October. Then it gets liberally fed until Christmas. Nearer Christmas, the marzipan needs to be tested and then when it is deemed fit for consumption, some of it sees it's way onto the cake.
Square every year so there are corners for more marzipan. My recipe goes from a 6" to humungous square or round. This is really useful for scaling. There are only the two of us eating it, but as we both love it, I don't skimp. It's only once a year after all!
*off to check the presses for ingredients* BUT NO MARZIPAN UNTIL DECEMBER!

Ooh marzipan is so good! It's so good grated & mixed with apples in a strudel (I make mine with shop bought puff pastry so hardly authentic strudel). I've also been using some Jersey Black Butter I got on holiday recently - it tastes just like Christmas mincemeat without the raisins. It's apples that have been cooked down with spices & treacle - yummy!
Anyway Chrimbo cake? Always think I ought to make one, never do. Hubby's not fussed, I like a bit but not mountains of it and it's hard to make a small one. Maybe this year!

[carieoates]

My mum has informed me that my cake has been made.

Too early for me. I think it's a hangover from being a working Mum - everything got left to the last minute. Also my hubby goes into a decline if anyone mentions Christmas before the end of October. I usually make a WW recipe which had lots of dried fruits - apricots/prunes etc - in it. Not especially low in calories I expect but nice and moist. I do like the sound of the keep cake tho' . I usually make a big cake and give a bit to my 2 sisters neither of whom cook much. We also like it to last into February if possible

[carorees]

I'm waiting for our Rayburn to be turned on before I cook mine as I don't have a proper oven all summer.

I shall make Mary Berry's recipe I think. A friend made the recipe earlier in the year and I thought it was really good, so I'm going to give it a go. It is very similar to the recipe I've been using for years that I adapted from Delia, but with a bit more butter and less sugar which I think made it moister and more yummy!

I don't do mine until the last week of October. The last few years i have made two and I cut one in half and give it to my Grandparents and the other half goes to some one else.

[wildmissus]

This was something I was thinking about but I think I'm going to give it a miss this year, I think! I made one last year for the first time ever and it was yummy but big and I ended up eating most of it! I think I'll get a small slab from somewhere, the only problem I have is that I hate orange and lemon peel.

Xmas cake is one of those things I feel I should have for the festive season but with Simon being diabetic and me trying to lose weight it's really not a good idea in our house (unless we had a really wee one which would only last Xmas week!). I usually buy a Stollen and a nice Xmas log so we have those to put out with mince pies over Xmas and no-one really misses the Xmas cake and if I fancy a piece I can have it at the mother-in-laws.

Not too late to make it though - look forward to seeing pics if anyone goes in for the Bake Off!

I have wanted to do Delias drunk jamachian recipe (i think thats what its called) where you put pounds of dried friut in a jar for weeks with pints of rum etc. Then add it to a small amount of batter.

I like the idea of using food tins (cans) for making individual ones, is there any difference in temperatures and what kind of time does it take to cook them? Would pineapple tins be a good size?

I have wanted to do Delias drunk jamachian recipe (i think thats what its called) where you put pounds of dried friut in a jar for weeks with pints of rum etc. Then add it to a small amount of batter.

This one?
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuis ... -cake.html

It's very similar to black cake - one of these years...

Luverly.