Christmas Cake cooked in Mr D’s® Eco Friendly Thermal Cooker

Ingredients

EQUIPMENT:
• Mr D’s Thermal cooker (4.5 litre capacity)
• Mr D’s cake tin
• Medium height trivet (or a stainless steel food ring)
• Kitchen scales
• Bowls/containers for weighing
• Teaspoon
• Large mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Baking paper
• Cooking hob (gas, electric or induction)
• Water (approx. ml) to heat in the thermal cooker
• Cake rack
INGREDIENTS:
• 320g currants
• 110g sultanas
• 110g raisins
• 40g chopped glacé cherries
• 40g chopped candied peel
• 1 full tsp black treacle
• 75ml brandy
• 175g plain flour
• Good pinch salt
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground mixed spice
• 175g soft dark brown sugar
• 40g chopped almonds
• 175g butter (softened)
• 4 medium eggs
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• Brandy to feed the cake (optional)
• Mixed dried fruit and nuts or Marzipan and icing (optional)
• Apricot jam

Instructions

1. Mix the currants, sultanas, raisins, cherries, peel, treacle and brandy together and leave to soak, stirring occasionally.
2. Prepare Mr D’s cake tin:
3. . cut a circle of baking paper to fit the base
4. . butter the tin base and side
5. . place the circle of baking paper in the base
6. . butter the surface of the baking paper
7. Weigh the butter and put it somewhere to soften.
8. Weigh and mix the flour, salt, nutmeg, mixed spice and dark brown sugar together.
9. Put the trivet and water in Mr D’s Thermal Cooker inner pot (enough water to come about ¾ inch above the trivet), put on the hob to bring to the boil.
10. Break the eggs into a large mug or jug and beat with a fork to mix white and yolks.
11. Mix the eggs and softened butter into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until smooth.
12. Mix in the soaked fruit, lemon and orange zest.
13. Turn the cake mix into Mr D’s cake tin and use the wooden spoon to flatten the surface. Clip on the cake tin lid.
14. When the water comes to the boil, place the cake tin onto the trivet. Turn down the heat, put the inner pot lid on and maintain at a simmer for 40 minutes.
15. Put the simmering hot inner pot into Mr D’s Thermal Cooker vacuum insulated outer pot and close the outer pot lid. Leave for 4 ½ hours or overnight to thermal cook in Mr D’s Thermal Cooker.
16. Take the cake tin out of the Thermal Cooker. Open the cake tin lid, place a cake rack on top of the tin and tip both over. Tap the base of the cake tin and gently ease the cake onto the cake rack. Leave to cool.
17. If you like a brandy-sozzled cake, prick the cake and pour over 2 dessert spoons of brandy.
18. Store the cake in an airtight container.
19. Dissolve some apricot jam. Use this to stick the dried fruit and nuts on the top. Once decorated coat the nuts and fruit with some dissolved apricot jam to give it a nice glaze.
20. If you prefer cover with marzipan, icing and decorations.

http://www.mrdsrecipes.co.uk/mr-ds-christmas-cake

© The copyright of this recipe belongs to Mr D and it should not be reproduced in any form without writen permission from The Thermal Cook