Today is the day! Our countdown to Christmas continues, and with a little under a week to go it’s time to take out that ubiquitous wooden spoon, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat eggs into butter, and mix until smooth… it’s baking time. Time to prepare wonderful rich cakes from fruits left soaking in some homes for as long as a year, before being steamed in the pudding.

Many homes have already experienced that warm, delicious aroma of fruit cake baking slowly in hot ovens. Super busy Debbie Hamilton, personal assistant to the prime minister, has already indicated that this is her week to bake. Sandra Samuels of Totally Male Limited will be placing her first set in the oven, as will Norma over at Whitehall Avenue; and in Saint Catherine, at Nasberry Grove, the Scott’s will continue a tradition of some five decades of baking the most delicious Christmas cake. Family member Claire Marie Scott calls the family cake “the best fruit cake ever”. The Foodpage concurs and would like to share with you the family’s special recipe. There’s more, much more. The Foodpage has declared today National Baking Day and there are easy mince pies to pop in the oven with the pudding. There’s no pudding without sauce and Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson mixes her very own pudding sauce. If you’re a traditionalist we’ve got a typical rum sauce.

Enjoy!

The Scott’s

‘Best’ Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

1 lb raisins

1/2 lb prunes

1/2 lb cherries

1/4 lb mixed peel

1pint grape juice

1qrt prune juice

1lb strawberry jam

1lb butter

1lb flour

1 pint ground nuts

1tbsp lime juice

6tbsp mixed spice

6 tsp baking powder

1/2 lb currants

1/2 lb dates

1/2 lb mixed fruits

1 pint stout

1 pint overproof rum

4 ozs browning

2 ozs honey

12 ozs sugar

10 eggs

1 tbsp rose water

1 tbsp almond essence

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp nutmeg

Method:

Chop fruits and mix thoroughly with prune juice, grape juice, stout and rum and leave to soak for three months. To use immediately, steam mixture on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring constantly.

Line and grease tins and set aside. Pour fruit mixture into a bowl. Add honey and browning and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle nuts on top and set aside.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients, except spices. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat eggs into the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients and spices alternately with fruits, almond essence, rose water and lime juice and mix well.

If too runny, add breadcrumbs, not flour.

Pour into baking tins and bake at 350 degrees for the first half-hour.

Lower temperature to 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until completely baked.

Christmas Cake with a male twist

(The most touted Chriatmas cake by Robert Ebanks.)

Ingredients:

1lb butter (2.2kg)

1lb dark sugar (2.2kg)

8 eggs

3 cups flour or (2 1/2 cups & 1/2 cup breadcrumbs)

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon powder

1 whole grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons mixed spice

browning (Use dependent on how dark you wish it)

1/2 bottle beer or stout

3 teaspoons jam (darker coloured ones preferably)

Fruits — raisins, prunes, currants etc.

Method:

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. (If you prefer your cake light, then cream until really smooth, if not then until most of the sugar grains have been creamed) Add eggs one by one and mix. Add spices into the flour along with the baking powder. Add flour into the mixture

Then add wet ingredients, that is, fruits, beer, browning, jam (if you like your rum, then add it like there is no tomorrow.)

Bake at 350 or 177 degrees for approximately three hours.

To get a pudding-like consistency, then put a pan of water in the bottom of the stove.

Sandy’s Christmas Delite

(Handed down one generation from Aunt Cherry)

Ingredients:

2 lbs butter

2 lbs sugar

11/2 lbs flour

1 lb bread crumbs

3 tsps baking powder

11/2 dozen eggs (eyes removed)

6 tsps rose water & almond food flavouring

6 tsps vanilla

2 tsps nutmeg

8 tsps mixed spice

1 tsp salt

1 bottle browning

2 lbs raisins

2 lbs currants

2 lbs prunes (pitted)

1 lb mixed peel

1lb cherries

Red Label Eine

I Bottle Appleton White Rum

Method:

Prepare fruits from December to December to get it very mellow. Chop prunes and cherries and grind mixed peel. Put prunes, raisins, currants, mixed peel and cherries in a covered glass container. Pour enough Red Label wine and Appleton white rum to cover fruits. Check fruits about every four months to add more wine & rum. Do not allow it to dry out. By December the fruits will become soft & mellow. If you are late in your preparations, prepare the fruits the same way then steam them in the wine and rum mixture. Bring the pot to a boil for about 15 minutes then turn off and leave to cool.

Cream butter and sugar until mixture become light and creamy. Combine all dry ingredients — flour, salt, baking powder, mixed spice and nutmeg. Blend all liquids — eggs (remove eyes to reduce rawness), rose water & almond flavouring, vanilla and add about two tablespoons of wine & rum to mixture. Blend with mixer at low speed for two minutes.

Combine butter and sugar mixture with flour mixture a portion at a time alternately until all is combined. Then add browning. Mix until mixture is completely brown. Add fruit mixture and bread crumbs a portion at a time alternately until finished. You can add or reduce the amount of fruits you would like in the mixture. The more fruits the heavier the cake. Preheat oven at 250 degrees. Bake at 250 degrees for two hours. This mixture should give you about two large and four medium cakes. At the end of two hours check the centre of the cake with a knife. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done if not leave in for a few more minutes until done. Depending on the thickness of the cake the large cake may take another half -hour.