Ottolenghi Christmas Cake (2024)

FAQs

What is the festive fruit cake Ottolenghi? ›

The Ottolenghi Christmas cake starts its journey in the summer. Sultanas, currants, raisins, dates, dried pineapple, apricots, prunes and glace cherries are left to soak for months in brandy and rum. This isn't a quick process, the fruit takes its time, but the result makes it all worth it.

A coin was hidden inside a small cake, whoever found it was crowned as mock king. Hiding small tokens in a cake is another tradition that has existed throughout the ages. The Christmas Sixpence, which is hidden inside a Christmas pudding or cake as a token of good fortune, being a recent example of this tradition.

Christmas cake is an English tradition that began as plum porridge. A traditional English Christmas cake is made with moist Zante currants, sultanas (golden raisins) and raisins which have been soaked in brandy, rum, whisky or sherry.

Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.

Its origins go as far back as the Middle Ages, when dried fruits became more widely available. The cost of ingredients was so high that in the 17th and 18th-century fruitcakes were only made for special occasions, such as weddings and holidays, particularly in Victorian England.

The famous “Tom Cruise Cake” is a white chocolate-coconut Bundt cake from Doan's Bakery in California. Every year, Tom Cruise gifts the decadent cake to his closest friends for the holidays.

25 rolls around — a fact that gave birth to an unfortunate bit of old Japanese slang: "Christmas cake" was used to refer to an unmarried woman who was over 25 and thus, considered past her prime.

The “Roscón de Reyes” (Kings Cake) is a traditional cake which is consumed by the Spanish on – and around – 3 Kings day (6^th January). Shaped like a large crown (or doughnut, it depends on how you look at it!) this tasty cake is covered with crystallized fruit and sugar.

Yes, you can make a fruit cake without brandy. Instead of brandy, you can use alternative liquids like apple juice, orange juice, or even tea to soak the dried fruits and add moisture and flavor to the cake.

Do you feed a Christmas cake from the top or bottom? ›

Most recipes call for dried fruit to be soaked overnight. I take a speedy approach: just microwave the dried fruit with juice and/or brandy, then stand for 1 hour to soak up the liquid. So much faster – and just as effective! Other than that, there's nothing unusual about how this fruit cake is made.

What alcohol should you use? Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.

A Christmas cake is a heavy cake containing much driedfruit and usually having a covering of icing. It is made to be eaten at Christmas. It can also be called a fruitcake.

No one knows exactly which genius was the first Yorkshire man or woman to seek out this taste sensation, but the custom was firmly established by Victorian times, with Joseph Lucas's 1871 book Studies In Nidderdale describing how, “On Christmas Eve one Yule Cake is given to each member of the family, along with a piece ...

Panettone is a Milanese sweet bread loaf (widely available throughout Italy and in many other countries), served around Christmas, which is traditionally filled with dried and candied fruits, with a bread loaf consistency.

The Japanese Tradition

Re-introduced by the Japanese upper-class during the country's Westernisation wave, the cake represented commercialism and prosperity for the Japanese. This secular symbol of celebration only arose after decades of media promotions that portrayed Christmas as a stylish and romantic event.

Simnel cake is a fruitcake associated with Lent and Easter and widely eaten in England, Ireland and countries with patterns of migration from them.

The fruitcake can be traced to ancient Egypt when delicious and long-lasting cakes were placed in the great pyramids with deceased royal dignitaries to sweeten their experience in the afterlife.