Insert Christmas Pun Here

November seems a tad early to be thinking about Christmas but shops have been playing their carols and stringing up tinsel for weeks by now. It’s my mum’s tradition to make at least three Christmas cakes every year because they invariably get scoffed before the big day. The added bonus is that when you make the cake early, it needs to be soaked in booze to preserve it. How very jolly!

The cake post-boozing.

Ooo just look at those fabulous fake colours. Om nom nom.

And now the Christmas fruit has been snowed on!

Alison Holst has been a constant in my cooking education. Her recipe for paprika chicken was the first thing I learnt to cook for dinner so the family ate that on a weekly basis for a long time. Mum and I make her pineapple Christmas cake bi-annually, alternating with another of Alison’s recipes.

We mixed the leftover pineapple juice with ginger ale and Pimms to sip while the cake cooked and I thrashed Mother at a game of Kings.

Alison Holst’s Pineapple Christmas Cake (From Alison Holst’s Kitchen Diary)

225 g butter – room temperature

1 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp almond essence

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp coriander

½ tsp cardamom

¼ tsp nutmeg

6 eggs – room temperate

Mixed fruit – I used 1kg mixed fruit, ¼ c sultanas, 2 handfuls prunes

1 c drained crushed pineapple – reserve juice

3 c plain flour

¼ c brandy/whisky/ etc.

Line a cake-tin with several layers of newspaper, with a layer of greaseproof paper on top. Allison recommends leaving the paper higher than the tin, to save the cake from browning too quickly. Preheat oven to 150°C.

Beat butter and sugar until light and smooth. Add essences and spices, then beat one egg in at a time. Inbetween each egg add a little of the measured amount of flour to prevent curdling.

In a larger bowl add the dried fruits, drained pineapple and remaining flour. Stir the egg mix into the fruit mix using a wooden spoon. The batter should be moist enough to drop off the spoon, so add extra flour or reserved pineapple juice if needed.

Spoon mixture well into the corners of the cake tin to ensure the lining paper doesn't shift. Spoon in the rest of the batter.

Bake at 150°C for two hours, then lower temperature to 130°C and bake for 1.5- 2 hours more. The cake is finished when an inserted knife comes out clean. As soon as cake is ready, pour your spirit of choice over it. The fumes are boozey!  Leave cake in tin until cool enough to touch, then pop it on a rack to finish cooling.

Pour the same amount of spirits over the cake once every couple of weeks if baking well in advance of Christmas and ice around Christmas Eve ish.