Thanks, but not its not! was on tv the other night, has cocoa powder in it, also prunes and raisins etc.
boxsters3,
Dec 15, 4:58am
What was it like as she has done a few!
The other week I made Nigella's 'Easy-Action Christmas Cake' out of her'Feast'cook book.Looks good but I have not cut it yet,
(I just did a google seach to check and) if you do a search on Easy-Action Christmas Cake it should come up for you.
boxsters3,
Dec 15, 5:41am
cocoa powder, prunes and raisins are in Nigellas 'Chocolate Fruit cake' recipe that is in her 'Feast' cookbook.It has 350 g prunes, 250 g raisins, 125 g currents, candied orange peel, juice and zest of 3 oranges, 4 Tablespoons cocoa etc. (In the book she says she had considered putting this recipe in her Christmas section rather than the Chocolate section where it ended up being put.)
elliehen,
Dec 15, 5:47am
Is it like this one!Prunes and booze and chocolate here :)
Chocolate Fruit Cake
(Closely adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Christmas. Original recipe may also be found.)
Ingredients (in my opinion, this cake easily serves 15. It’s very rich, so just a tiny slice will do):
350g dried soft prunes, chopped 400g mixed fruit for baking (raisins, currants, candied orange peel etc.) 175g unsalted butter, softened 175g dark muscovado sugar 175ml (3/4 cup) honey 125 ml coffee liqueur (e.g. Tia Maria, Kahlua etc.) Juice and finely grated zest of 2 oranges 1 tsp mixed spice (This might be hard to find outside England. It’s a mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and all spice. I happened to have all five types of spices in my pantry, so I mixed together 1/4 tsp of each, then used 1 tsp of the mix.) 2 tbsp good quality cocoa powder 3 eggs, beaten 150g plain flour 75g ground almonds 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda Directions:
1. Start by preparing your tin. You will need a 8″x3.5″-deep round, loose-bottomed cake tin. Line the bottom and sides of the tin with a double layer of baking parchment. This is quite a bit of work, but absolutely necessary.
a. First, place your tin on two sheets of baking paper. Trace around the tin and cut out 2 circles of paper. Then cut 2 long rectangles that can go around the circumference of the tin. The width of the rectangles should be at least the height of the tin + 12cm. Fold one length of each rectangular piece in by at least 1″ (I folded mine in a lot more), then snip along the folded portion at about 1″ intervals up to the fold, so that it looks frilly.
b. Grease your tin with cooking spray or butter. Place one paper circle on the bottom of the tin, then fit one of the long pieces along the inner circumference of the tin. Be sure to arrange the frilly edge so that all the frills lay flat. Do the same with the second long piece. Finally, place the second paper circle on top of the frills.
2. Prepare all your ingredients, if you haven’t already. (Chop the prunes, zest the oranges etc.)
3. Preheat oven to 150 degC. Put the prunes, mixed fruit, butter, sugar, honey, liquer, orange juice, orange zest, mixed spice and cocoa powder into a large, wide saucepan. Gradually bring the mixture to a boil, stirring every so often. Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled slightly. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and baking soda, and mix in well with a wooden spoon or spatula.
5. Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin. Place the cake tin in the lower-third of the oven and bake for 1-3/4 to 2 hours, until the top of the cake appears firm but has a shiny, sticky look. (If you insert a skewer into the middle of the cake, it won’t come out completely clean. That’s ok.)
6. Remove the cake from the oven and put the cake, still in its tin, on a wire rack. This cake takes a very very long time to cool (mine took over 2 hours), so go do something else while you wait. When the cake has cooled, remove the cake from the tin. If the cake isn’t being eaten right away, wrap it up in baking parchment then in foil, and store in an airtight container.
7. If you wish to decorate, Nigella suggests using chocolate-covered coffee beans, gold stars, gold mini-balls and edible gold dust. I used Maltesers, along with some very tiny gold balls and gold dust that I already had handy. But all this is nice to have, not need to have. The cake is plenty pretty on its own.
mmecholet,
Dec 15, 8:23pm
I made that cake for a gift last year - the recipient raved about it so I'm making two this year :)
icequeen2,
Dec 16, 7:53am
Yay! thanks so much! yes that is the one! lol, thanks so much for that! Yes, she decorated it with the choc covered coffee beans, and the gold stars and dust! looked awesome! I just felt like making something a bit different this year, as well as my standard Alison Holst pineapple xmas cake i make every year.Thanks again,i really appreciate everyones help, it really stumped me!
elliehen,
Dec 16, 8:07am
Am pleased that's the one icequeen2.I liked the look of it and saved it a while ago ago from someone's blog.I'm now encouraged by your enthusiasm to try it myself.There were some photos on the blog.I'll try and find the link again and post it here.
sarahj1,
Dec 16, 8:20am
DH has made this one for the past two years - it's the only Xmas cake I like (chocolate and Kahlua could have something to do with it.)
elliehen,
Dec 16, 8:22am
And here is Nigella herself making it!Just get past two minutes of Christmas palaver and then it's a six minute step-by-step making of the cake.
Ha! Awesome! i hear the rocky road she made on tv is awesome too, tho lots of people finding it hard to get amaretti bisc this year. I will def get the ingreds and give it a go!
icequeen2,
Dec 16, 8:29am
Where do you get the gold dust from!
bernice1,
Dec 16, 9:23am
Chocolate Fruitcake Ingredients 350g dried soft prunes, chopped 250g raisins 125g currants 175g unsalted butter, softened 175g dark muscovado sugar 175ml honey 125ml coffee liqueur 2 oranges, juice and zest only 1 tsp mixed spice 2 tbsp good quality cocoa 3 free-range eggs, beaten 150g plain flour 75g ground almonds ½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda For decoration 25g dark chocolate-covered coffee beans edible glitter gold mini balls about 10 edible gold stars Method 1. Preheat the oven to 150C. 2. Line the sides and bottom of a 20cm, 9cm deep, round loose-bottomed cake tin with a layer of reusable silicon baking parchment. When lining the tin with the parchment, cut the material into strips that are twice as high as the tin itself (it is easier to use two shorter strips of parchment, than one long strip); the height of the strips protects the cake from catching on the outside of the cake tin. 3. Place the fruit, butter, sugar, honey, coffee liqueur, orange juice and zest, mixed spice and cocoa into a large wide saucepan. Heat the mixture until it reaches a gentle boil, stirring the mixture as the butter melts. Let the mixture simmer for ten minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to stand for 30 minutes. 4. After 30 minutes, the mixture will have cooled a little. Add the eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and bicarbonate soda, and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula until the ingredients have combined. 5. Carefully pour the fruitcake mixture into the lined cake tin. Transfer the cake tin to the oven and bake for 1¾-2 hours, or until the top of the cake is firm but will has a shiny and sticky look. At this point, if you insert a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, the cake should still be a little uncooked in the middle. 6. Place the cake on a cooling rack. Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin. 7. To decorate, place the chocolate-covered coffee beans in the centre of the cake and arrange the gold stars around the perimeter of the top of the cake. Then sprinkle some gold mini-balls over the whole of the cake. Sprinkle the edible glitter over the top of the cake.
bernice1,
Dec 16, 9:27am
I have made the above over the past few years, made small 6" versions of them, decorated them with melted chocolate drizzled on the top of the cake, then sprinkled on the choc covered coffee beans (the chocolate acts as a glue) and gold cachous etc. Wrapped in cellophane they look gorgeous and make great gifts.
icequeen2,
Dec 16, 9:55pm
Awesome! sounds lovely, thanks again everyone, thought i would really get stuck on that one!
jen69,
Dec 17, 2:35am
Just wondered if the coffee liquer really adds to the magic of the cake, or can you successfully use a different type of alcohol!I just dont have any coffee liquer.
elliehen,
Dec 17, 2:41am
Have you got any Stone's Ginger Wine!That's strong and syrupy and would do as a substitute.
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