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Make-ahead Mulled Wine Cake
Make-ahead Mulled Wine Cake is a traditional British recipe for a classic rich fruit Christmas cake made with mulled port wine that needs to be matured before use and is traditionally served as a Christmas cake. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Make-ahead Mulled Wine Cake.
prep time
30 minutes
cook time
145 minutes
Total Time:
170 minutes
Additional Time:
(+over-night maceration)
Serves:
10–12
Rating: 
Tags : Spice RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesBritish Recipes
This is a twist on the traditional rich fruit cake intended for
Christmas in that, rather than a mix of fruit juice and brandy (which is typical) the fruit for the cake are soaked over night in mulled port wine. You should make this about 2 months before it's needed.
Ingredients:
500ml full-bodied sweet port wine
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
4
cloves
4
allspice berries
1 whole nutmeg, halved
2 strips of
orange zest
1 tsp whole
cloves
200g sultanas
200g currants
20g raisins
250g ready to eat prunes, chopped
100g glacé cherries, quartered
100g mixed peel, chopped
finely-grated zest of 1 orange
finely-grated zest of 1 lime
200g butter, softened
200g dark Muscovado sugar
4 eggs, beaten
250g plain flour
1 tsp ground
cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice)
generous pinch of ground
cloves
3cm piece of
ginger, finely grated
Method:
Place the cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, allspice and nutmeg in a piece of muslin and tie securely. Add to a pan along with the port and the orange zest then bring the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat and set aside to steep for 15 minutes. Combine the fruit and mixed peel in a large heat-proof bowl then strain the hot mulled port over the top (discard the spices and lemon zest). Cover the bowl with clingfilm (plastic wrap) then leave out at room temperature to plump the fruit over night.
The following day, grease and line the base and sides of a deep 20cm cake din with a double layer of baking parchment then wrap the outside of the tin in a double layer of baking parchment (or brown paper). Now cream the butter in a bowl then beat in the sugar until light and creamy. Ad the eggs, one by one, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition (add a little flour if the eggs begin to curdle). Add the finely-grated zests along with the remaining ingredients and fold to combine. Drain the soaked fruit and fold these into the mix as well.
Spoon the resultant mix into the prepared tin then smooth the surface with a spatula and transfer to the centre of an oven pre-heated to 140°C. Bake for 40 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 130°C and bake for a further 90 to 105 minutes, or until the top of the cake turns golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre emerges cleanly.
When ready, remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin. Remove and keep wrapped in greaseproof paper in an air-tight tin until Christmas. Decorate with marzipan and icing, like any other Christmas cake.
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