Recipe: Ben Shewry’s Christmas Cake
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We recognise that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples were the first sovereign nations of Australia from time immemorial, and they never ceded this sovereignty.
Recipe: Ben Shewry’s Christmas Cake
Get into the Christmas spirit(s) with this fruity, nutty, boozy dessert
Words by Ben Shewry, Photographs by Colin Page
Published 28.11.22
The first time Ben made a Christmas cake, he was 10 years old. It was, as he describes it, a gigantic fruit cake – wrapped in a layer of almond icing, then topped with an arrangement of royal icing flowers.
It was a gift to his parents, a labour of love, carried out in semi-secrecy over the course of a month. Unfortunately, he forgot to include eggs and – while they were suitably impressed – it fell a little (figuratively) flat.
Now, many years later, Ben has perfected his own interpretation of a fruity, nutty, cake that’s full of Christmas spirit(s).
“If you like a boozy Christmas cake (like me) then add about a shot each week. Wrap the cake in tin foil and store cake in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool dark place.”
For best results, start this cake a month or so before serving. We’ll let Ben take it from here:
I like to make my Christmas cake four to six weeks before Christmas and ‘feed’ it with spirits weekly. To do so, insert bamboo skewers into the top of the cake every 2cm to about half the depth of the cake. Pour or brush on whisky as you see fit. If you like a boozy Christmas cake (like me) then add about a shot each week. Wrap the cake in tin foil and store cake in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool dark place.”
Just don’t forget the eggs.
Ingredients
1 cup brandy, whisky, cognac or your favourite sprit
375g dried quandongs
375g sultanas
250g raisins
125g currants
125g dried cranberries
125g mixed peel
450g tin crushed pineapple, drained
250g salted butter, softened
270g brown sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
1tsp Heilala pure vanilla paste (can be replaced
with 1tsp pure vanilla essence)
40g your favourite marmalade
4 free-range eggs
420g plain flour
Pinch salt
1/4tsp pepper berry
1/2tsp dried, ground anise myrtle
1/2tsp lemon myrtle
1/4tsp nutmeg
1tsp mixed spice
Dried fruit and nuts of your choice to garnish the top of the cake such as glace cherries, dried or candied pineapple and almonds.
More of your chosen spirit for 'feeding' the cake after baking (and sipping while you make it).
*Native Australian spices and fruits available from Indigearth.
Method
The day before you bake your cake, combine all dried fruit and the drained crushed pineapple in a large bowl. Add whisky, mix well, cover and leave to macerate for 24 hours. (If you forget this step, you can combine the fruit and whisky in a saucepan and gently warm them for 15 minutes to plump up the dried fruit.)
Pre-heat a fan forced oven to 140°C.
Prepare a 20–22cm round cake tin by greasing and lining it with two layers of baking paper. Bring the baking paper about 7cm above the height of the cake tin.
Sift flour and spices together.
In a large bowl, add the soft butter and brown sugar. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer cream them together until pale. If you don’t have an electric mixer of any kind get out your whisk and elbow grease. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in thoroughly.
Add zests and marmalade to macerated fruit and combine well.
Add ¼ of the dry ingredients and ¼ of the fruit mix into the butter and egg mix and fold in. Repeat until all is added and well combined.
Pour cake batter into lined cake tin. Use a spatula to smooth out the top.
Decorate your cake with dried fruits and nuts.
Place the cake into the oven on a middle or lower rack. Bake for 4 hours or until a bamboo skewer comes out clean when inserted. Once cake is cooked remove from the oven.
Allow cake to completely cool before removing from the tin, do not remove the baking paper. Store in an airtight container with the baking paper attached.
