The Christmas dinner table is one of the important parts of the celebration of Christmas. Christmas cake is a heavy cake which is containing dried fruits, spices, and nuts. Christmas cake is the main meal of the Christmas dinner table. This cake is also known as rich cake or fruit cake and is similar to wedding cakes. The difference between a wedding cake and a Christmas cake is adding the icing covering to the top of the wedding cake.
What is Christmas?
Christmas is a Christian festival that is the annual celebration of the birth of Jesus. The Christmas festival is celebrated by all the people in the world whether they are Christian or not. The Christmas time period is the time which the family and friends meet and enjoy together. Children are received memorable gifts from Santa Claus on this special day.
- Christmas Tree
- Christmas Cake
- Carols
- Santa Claus
- Christmas Dinner Table
- Bells, Candles
Christmas Dinner Table
Everyone wants to create a beautiful, attractive table for your family, friends, and visitors to admire and enjoy. There are some facts to consider when creating the Christmas dinner table.
Color is a considerable fact of the Christmas festival. The traditional Christmas colors are green, red, and gold. These are warm and strong colors that provide a festive effect. Silver and white colors are also used for Christmas parties. They provide a clean, simple look for the dinner table.
Christmas Cake
Christmas is a festive season. Christmas cake is something that comes to mind when we say Christmas. It is amazing food at the Christmas dinner table. Unfortunately, most people have been tempted to buy this one. But, if you follow this recipe and try to make you would be able to make a delicious Christmas cake easily. Also, you can make happy your family members and visitors from your own food. It will be proud for you.
History of Christmas Cake
Christmas cake begins as plum porridge. It is an English tradition. Around the 16th century, people are used richer ingredients. So, the oats were removed, and then flour and eggs were added. Some people could afford to wrap their cakes in marzipan or icing, making them look like the Christmas cake.
Many people start to make the Christmas cake in November. When preparing the Christmas cake the dried fruit mixture is kept in an airtight container for a few days to enhance the flavor of the cake by seasoning fruits. Then the Christmas cake is feeding which means a small amount of brandy, sherry, rum, or whisky is poured into holes in the cake every week until Christmas.
Types of Christmas Cake.
- The people in the United States, fruit cake is not called as Christmas cake, but they give fruitcakes as gifts at Christmas time. There are many different ways to prepare this food. Christmas cake can be light, dark, moist, dry, heavy, spongy, leavened, unleavened, and more other textures. Also we can decorate this cake with icing in various shapes like frosting balls, stars, bells, Santa Claus or any other christmas icon.
- Christmas cake is a Japanese traditional Christmas food. In Japan, they are eaten on Christmas Eve. This Christmas cake is a sponge cake, is decorated with whipped cream, strawberries, Christmas chocolates or other seasonal fruits, and is made a various shapes like Santa Claus, frosting bells. This decorated Christmas cakes were originally released by Fujiya and were popularized when they began sales at Ginza, the central commercial district in Tokyo.
- In the Philippines, Christmas cake is bright yellow pound cake. It is traditional British fruitcake. This Christmas cakes have a long shelf life, usually lasting many months. Sometimes they are eaten in the Easter and Christmas. They are soaked in brandy or rum mixed with a simple syrup of palm sugar and water.
- In India, Christmas cakes are fruit cakes. There are many variants of Christmas cake in India. Allahabadi cake is famous one. It has rich taste and texture. Many Christian bakeries add rum as the alcohol to the Christmas cake.
- In Sri Lanka, to prepare the Christmas cakes use spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper.
- In Cyprus, Christmas cake is the first treat the locals serve to their guests which is served on Christmas Day.
- Stollen is also a type of Christmas cake which is a traditional German fruitcake, is popular. During the Christmas season, it’s also called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen.
- In Italy, at Christms eve is eaten a slice of sweet sourdough bread with a distinct cupola shape, is called as Panettone. Raisins and candied citrus fruits are used to prepare this variation and is prepared over several days. The “Pandolce Genovese” is a famous Christmas cake in Italy. The name “Genovese” comes from its city of origin, Genoa. It is similar to a British fruitcake. It is less tall and more crumbly.
- Bûche de Noël (Yule Log cake) is used as the traditional Christmas cake in France, in Belgium, in Switzerland, French Canada, Luxembourg, and in Lebanon. It is a light sponge cake. When preparing the Christmas cake covered it with a layer of buttercream flavoured with chocolate, coffee, and Grand Marnier. Then roll, covered with another layer of buttercream which is streaked and sprinkled with powdered sugar to simulate a log of wood covered with snow.
Cheapflights describe so many variations of Christmas cake.
Christmas Cake Ingredients
- Chow Chow Preserve
- Chow-chow/chayote belongs to the gourd family. The flesh of chow chow is firm but it’s easy to peel, cut and deseed. This adds texture and mellowness to an otherwise rich cake. This ingredient can be bought in Asian grocery shops.
- Ginger Preserve
- This can be made by preserving fresh ginger in syrup. This is available in food shops.
- Cashews
- Candied peel
- To prepare candied peel, keep candied orange and lemon peel for 6-8 weeks in an airtight container. Then chop them.
- Pumpkin Preserve
- Raisins
- Sultana
- Black Currants
- Cherries
- Cake Spices
- This is a mixture of spices like cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- Strawberry Jam
- Bees Honey
- Vanilla
- Almond Essence
- Rose Essence
- Brandy
- Not only brandy but also use any other alcohol like sherry, wine, or rum. If you can’t find or unlike to drink alcohol, don’t worry. You can use apple juice instead of alcohol.
- Semolina
- Butter
- Egg Whites and Egg Yolks
- Sugar
- Golden Syrup
When we prepare Christmas cake it is better to use a glass bowl. Because the fruit mixture is an acidity mixture. So, if we use an iron bowl, a reaction between acid and iron can occur. It can be affected your health.
This food can prepare in the oven also using the gas cooker.
Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 125 grams Chow Chow Preserve
- 125 grams Ginger Preserve
- 200 grams Cashews
- 150 grams Candied Peel
- 250 grams Pumpkin Preserve
- 150 grams Raisins
- 250 grams Sultana
- 150 grams Black Currants
- 250 grams Cherries
- 3 tsp Cake Spices
- 200 grams Strawberry Jam
- 20 grams Bees Honey
- 15 grams Vanilla
- 15 grams Almond Essence
- 2 tsp Rose Essence
- 10 tbsp Brandy
- 250 grams Semolina
- 250 grams Butter
- Grated 2 lime zest
- 7 Egg Whites
- 11 Egg Yolks
- 500 grams Sugar
- 20 grams Golden Syrup
Instructions
- Cut chow chow preerves, ginger preserve, cashews, raisins, sultana, black currents, and cherries.
- Add these things to a glass bowl.
- Add fruit syrups, cake spices, jam, bee honey, vanilla, almond essence, rose essence, and brandy.
- Then, mix well together.
- Cover the bowl and place at room temperature for 10 days to marinate the mixture.
- After 10 days, take a pot and add semolina.
- Then slightly fry them.
- Take a bowl and add and beat the egg whites.
- Next, take another bowl and add butter, sugar.
- Then beat them well until creamy texture.
- Next, add egg yolks one by one to the cream and beat well.
- Then, add grated lime zest to the butter cream.
- After cooling semolina, add semolina to the butter cream and again beat well.
- Then add the butter mixture to the fruit mixture and mix well.
- Prepare the cake tray with five layers of papers. Then put two parchment papers on the paper layer.
- Add the cake batter to the tray.
- Put the cake tray in the preheated oven. ( Preheat the oven to 1600C )
- Bake the cake at 1600 for half an hour. Then, decrease the temperature to 1300 and bake for 2 hours.
- After baking perfectly, cut pieces and serve.
