And there were plums and prunes and cherries
There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too
There was nuts, and cloves and berries
And a crust that was nailed on with glue
There were caraway seeds in abundance
Such that work up a fine stomach ache
That could kill a man twice after eating a slice
Of Miss Fogarty’s Christmas cake
“The true Christmas cake contains selected ingredients and spices which makes it the aristocrat of cakes.”
Leinster Leader, 19 Nov 1949
An Irish Christmas cake is a decked out fruitcake, which is a global phenomenon in itself. It’s topped with almond paste or marzipan, then covered with fondant and decorated. The fruitcake has a very similar (English) origin to the plum pudding, which has been adopted and adapted by many cultures over time, and is also built to last (the sugar is said to preserve it for up to 25 years!). It seems that some of the same sixteenth-century plum porridge/pottage mixture was set aside and made into a cake, often saved for Easter, eventually becoming the marzipan-covered centerpiece we’re familiar with. It supplanted the Twelfth-night, or king cake, during the Victorian era. The spices and dried fruit that make up the Christmas cake were not native to Ireland, and would have been costly during times of strictly controlled imports. Similar fruitcakes are also served at weddings in fancy tiers. While similar to barmbrack (Bairín Breac), which is more of a bread, the Christmas cake is much more indulgent.
The first newspaper mention I can find of a Christmas cake in Ireland is the Tipperary Free Press, 19 Jan 1831, within a short article advertising a ventriloquism act by a Mr. Gallaher: “He introduces to his juvenile supporters a Christmas cake by way of lottery; this customary treat in England, was lately introduced in Dublin by Mr. Henry with great delight amongst his visitors.” There was also a very peculiar phenomenon regarding gigantic cakes, with each baker trying to outdo the other, or topping their previous record. It’s especially interesting within a larger historical context. John Hart’s Confectionary in Cork (“No Cake-shop established, has gained such renown, For deny it who will!…’Tis the talk of the Town ! ! !”) exhibited a 700 lb cake in 1837, portioning it into 1000 cakes each from “6d (pennies) to five guineas each, containing the usual Mottos, rings, & c.” 1838 sees James Grant offering “Innocent Amusement For The Inhabitants of Belfast and Its Vicinity,” upping the ante from the previous year’s 672 lb cake with a “HALF-A-TON, 1,120 lbs” version featuring twenty four gold rings at one shilling per pound, “thereby giving to the most humble Tradesman an opportunity, with the probability, of possessing himself of one pound of this most excellent CAKE, and a GOLD RING. There is attached to each Ring the fate of the fortunate finder.” A more modest 90 lb Christmas cake was baked in Tralee in 1840, but its origin was clearly of importance at the time:
Grant once again outdid himself in 1847: “GRANT’S MONSTER CHRISTMAS CAKE, the greatest curiosity of the season, contains the following ingredients: — 1,134 dozen eggs; 987 lbs. butter; 987 do. sugar; 987 do. flour; 1,364 French currants; 646 do. candied citron; 97 do. spices; 311 do. Sugar, for icing; 163 do. whites of eggs, do.; 1lb. 4oz. isinglass: total, 5,543lbs. 4ozs. It also contains 100 solid gold rings. Surely, the purchasers will get good value for their money!” The current world record for largest fruitcake is 4,353kg/9,956 lb 11 oz.
The Christmas cake also had a part to play in Éamon de Valera’s infamous 1919 prison break. Spoiler alert: a replica key was baked into not one, but three fruitcakes. The third one, which was oblong-shaped, was successful.
As a side note, there is a wonderful recipe for Granny Annag’s Christmas Cake in the Hebridean Baker‘s new book if you are looking for something Scottish.
Folklore
Another similarity to the plum pudding is the addition of coins, especially the sixpence or threepence, to the batter. Twelfth Night cakes would include a dried bean and a pea for the “King and Queen of the Revels.” Rings were also baked in for good luck, as you can see above.
“At Christmas a rich cake is baked. This Christmas cake contains many ingredients including currants, sultanas, raisins, candied peel and butter. Often those cakes are iced on the top and sides.” – Mary Ryan, Leitrim, Co Leitrim (NFCS 0207:508)
“At Christmas the people made a large cake which they called a Christmas cake. This cake was wet with porter and in it was put all sorts of fruit.” – John Connery, Glennagross, Co Clare (NFCS 0597:306)
“The Christmas cake was made from barm. Barm was made by mixing boiled potatoes, peeled, mixed with water in a big jar and left by the fire for two or three days.” – Mrs. Hannah Kelly, Loughananna, Kilbehenny (NFCS 0573:052)
“On Christmas day in this district the dinner is taken at dark and it consists of roast turkey or a goose and a plum pudding. Then the large Christmas cake studded with raisins and currants is attacked and all enjoy an afternoon of innocent mirth.” – Maureen Morely, Ballyfeeny, Co Roscommon (NFCS 0255:350)
“Long ago, there was a man in the County of Kildare by the name of Ger Lenihan. He lived in a cottage alone. He used to make fine home made bread, and often his neighbours used come in to have dinner with him. A few days before Christmas he invited his neighbours for the Christmas dinner, telling them that he intended to have rich fruit cake before them. The day before Christmas Eve he went for his Christmas goods, and he told the shop keeper to give him all kinds of fruit and seeds that would make a Christmas cake. He paid for his goods and came home, and that night set to work to make his cake. First he got his bread pan, and flour and he next put in all the fruit and seeds, and sugar that the shop-keeper gave him. He got six eggs and a bowl of cream and started to knead his cake, when he had the cake finished he got his oven and put on his cake, and allowed one hour for to bake it. While it was baking he sat down reading a paper. When he thought it was baked he lifted the cover off the oven, and found his cake was baked, and still as flat as when he put it into the oven. He was surprised why it did not rise like his plain cakes used. Still he never thought of what he had left out of the cake, and put it aside for the Christmas dinner. He never looked at the cake any more until his neighbours came on Christmas Day. When they came he got the tea for them, and he put every thing on the table, and next went to cut his cake. He found it so hard and heavy that he nearly fainted. My goodness boys what has happened my beautiful cake. We can neither eat it or cut it. They all sat down around the table, and none of them could eat the cake. He started to tell them every thing he put in the cake. Wish a jer said one of the men you never thought of the soda. He then began to lament and moan saying “The value of my ten and sixpence gone for Nothing, All for the Want of a Tay Spoon of Soda, Catching the Cak and Throwing it out in the Yard, He Said, “Wisha Lads What a Quare Christmas I Have.”” – Mrs Daniel Sugrue, Maulcallee, Co Kerry (NFCS 0465:145)
“What is the best thing to put in a Christmas cake?
Your teeth.” – Thank Lugnavaddoge, Co. Mayo for that one!
Ingredients
“For many people the Christmas cake was, and to a great extent still is, the most important cake of the year. For weeks thrift women all over the country scrimped and saved to gather up enough dried fruit — sultanas, currants, candied peel, crystalised cherries, perhaps even a few plump muscatel raisins — to make the cake of cakes. Making the cake was always a family affair and in our family there was no shortage of eager helpers. As children, we stoned the muscatel raisins, washed and halved the jewel-like cherries, diced the chunks of candied peel and citron and even helped with the laborious creaming of butter and soft Barbados sugar.”
– Darina Allen, Irish Independent, 1 Nov 1995
GLACÉ CHERRIES
Glacé cherries are essentially candied cherries. They are similar to maraschino cherries but have been further reduced in syrup. You can make them at home, but I found it easier to buy them – for some reason the green ones are wayyy less expensive than the red ones.
Here’s the earliest advertisement for a product called “glacé cherries”:
ROYAL ICING VS FONDANT
Royal icing is the traditional topping for this cake, but fondant has replaced it for quite some time now. Royal icing, or “Egg White” icing, was developed in the 1700s, and is erroneously thought to have gained its “royal” moniker after it was used on Queen Victoria’s wedding cake in 1840. Almond paste or marzipan is often placed under royal icing to prevent discoloring, a technique credited to Elizabeth Raffald, an 18th-century domestic servant turned author. A lot of people prefer one topping over the other, so it comes down to individual taste and what you like. Fondant, a clay-like combination of sugar, water, and corn syrup, is bought ready-made, and royal icing is put together at home out of icing sugar and egg whites. You can find fondant at stores with baking sections like Michaels, usually sold by the pound, or order it online.
Whatever you decide, Myrtle Allen recommends putting the almond paste on 12 days before Christmas, and waiting for it to dry out before adding the royal icing or fondant – I waited three. Darina also has a toasted almond option if you don’t want either, which I’ll add at the bottom!
MAKE IT VEGAN
This is an easy swap – you can use plant-based butter like Earth Balance instead of dairy butter, and any egg replacement (like the powdered kind) since you’ll be baking it.
A quick note – you can make this cake anytime you want. It will have a stronger taste the longer it sits: “I must admit to my partiality for a “young” fruit cake (made 2-3 weeks before eating) rather than an “old” fruit cake made 3-4 months beforehand” (Sunday Independent Dublin, 3 Dec 1989).
Traditional Christmas Cake Recipe
When should one begin to make the Christmas Cake? My answer to that question is: NOW … Because a Christmas Pudding has to be boiled a second time, the fruits in it do have a kind of special ripening. A cake, however, does not have this second cooking, so it is important to give the fruit plenty of time to perfume and contribute its moisture to the cake. The further ahead the cake is baked the better it will be.
Londonderry Sentinel, 24 Nov 1956
CAKE INGREDIENTS
110g (4oz) glacé cherries
50g (2oz) whole almonds
350g (12oz) sultanas
350g (12oz) currants
350g (12oz) raisins
110g (4oz) candied peel
50g (2oz) ground almonds (you can use a food processor for this – grind with 1 tbs of flour from the recipe in short bursts)
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
70ml (21/2fl oz) Irish whiskey
225g (8oz, 2 sticks) butter, softened
225g (8oz) brown or golden caster sugar
6 eggs
275g (10oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice (or pumpkin pie spice)
1 large or 2 cooking apples, grated
ALMOND PASTE & ICING INGREDIENTS
450g (1lb) golden caster sugar
450g (1lb) ground almonds
2 small eggs
2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
one drop/1/16 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg white, lightly whisked, or sieved apricot jam
1 x 450g (1lb) packet fondant (optional)
CAKE: METHOD
1. With two layers of parchment paper, line a 23cm (9in) round or a 20.5cm (8in) tin as well as two around the outside.
2. Wash and dry cherries, then halve or quarter.
3. Blanch the almonds in boiling water for 1–2 minutes, remove skins and dice.
4. Mix the dried fruit and candied peel, almonds, and lemon and orange zest. Add about half the whiskey and macerate for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
6. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually whisk in eggs one at a time to avoid curdling.
7. Combine flour and mixed spice and stir in. Add grated apple and fruit.
8. Put into prepared tin. Wet hand and press down slightly in center for a smooth top. Place two additional layers of parchment paper over the cake mixture.
9. Bake for 1 hour, then reduce to 160°C/320°F/gas mark 3. Bake for another 2 1/2 hours or until cooked. The cake is done when a skewer in the center comes out clean – if not, cook for a further 10 minutes with an additional 10 if needed.
10. Douse the cake in the remainder of the whiskey and cool overnight.
11. Remove from tin the following day and wrap in more parchment paper and tin foil until needed, storing in a cool, dry place. Allow it to sit and mature to taste.
*You can also continue to “feed” the cake lashings of whiskey/alcohol while you wait, if you wish
ALMOND PASTE: METHOD
1. Sieve the caster sugar with the ground almonds.
2. Beat eggs, the add whiskey and almond extract. Add sugar and mix until it becomes a stiff paste.
3. Dust work area with icing (powdered) sugar, turn out almond paste and knead until smooth.
4. To ice the cake, remove the paper. You can lay out a sugar-dusted piece of parchment paper and roll out half the paste on it to about 1cm/½in.
5. Brush top of cake with egg white or apricot jam and put it sticky side down onto almond paste, then cut around the edge.
6. Cut off any excess paste and smooth over top of cake with a palette knife. Slide a knife or spatula under cake or paper and flip right side up. Peel off parchment paper.
7. Roll out 2 long strips of paste and trim to the height of cake. Brush cake and strips with egg or jam, then press against sides of cake without overlapping. Trim excess and use a glass to even and smooth. Lastly, rub and press down to make sure it’s flat.
ICING/FONDANT: METHOD
1. Before you do this, let the almond-paste dry out on the cake for a few days in a cool, dry place so the almond oil doesn’t leak through the icing.
2. Dust worktop with sugar and roll out fondant until about 5mm/¼in thick, then left and lay drape evenly over cake.
Optional: Toasted Almond-Topped Cake
1. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
2. Roll out remainder of almond paste to 5mm/¼in thickness. Cut out desired shapes, brush surface of cake with egg and stick them around the sides and on top. Brush these with egg as well.
3. Place cake on baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until just toasted. Remove and cool.
4. Decorate as you wish – holly, dusted sugar, etc.
This cake is headed to Brooklyn! Happy holidays!
cleite agus cnámh 