We are now nearing closer into the seasonal celebration of Christmas for those of us who celebrate this festivity. This month at Sweet and Simple Bakes Maria presented us with a gorgeous recipe for a Chocolate Christmas cake.
Maria encouraged our creative side to come out in this bake with the scope of what type of icing and decorations each baker wanted to use. I always make my own mincemeat each year and a jar (400g) comes in handy just for this bake alone each year. This is such a beautiful tasting cake and one that doesn’t require an awful lot of work. The chocolate combines well with all those swollen fruits in the mincemeat and a few extra sultanas and raisins added into the mixture. I used fondant icing to cover the top only of my cake and left it white this year with a few cut out stars in fondant and a little bit of bling-bling from edible glitter and sugar golden balls. I attached a lovely bright red ribbon around the centre of the cake with a bow to signify Christmas.
Chocolate Christmas Cake
Ingredients
150g (5 oz) soft butter
150g (5 oz) light muscovado sugar or soft brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
185g (6½ oz) self-raising flour
40g (1½ oz) cocoa powder
400g (14 oz) jar of mincemeat
80g (3 oz) each of sultanas and raisins
50g (2 oz) blanched almonds chopped
100g pkt of white chocolate chips or white chocolate chopped up
You will need a 20cm (8 in) springform tin. Lightly butter the inside of the tin and double line the tin with baking paper or greaseproof paper.
**For Decoration see link below**
**For Decoration see link below**
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/Gas mark 3.
Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat together for a minute or two until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1¾-2 hours until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. You will probably need to cover the cake with foil towards the end of cooking time to prevent the top from browning too much. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To view how to line a tin or for ideas on decorations and icing please visit Sweet and Simple Bakes!
If you would like to make your own vegetarian mincemeat please visit Sweet and Simple Bakes for the recipe!
45 comments:
what a stunning cake!! great job =)
An original way of using mincemeat! That pretty cake looks delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
Beautifully decorated cake Rosie. Interesting recipe with the addition of cocoa powder - this one is new to me!
I love the red ribbon!
what a great job... it looks amazing! :)
Rosie, what a beautiful looking cake. I also really like the cupcake background, such fun! x
Beautifully decorated Rosie, well done!
Maria
x
With the holidays starting I just know I will be so tempted by just the mear mention of delicious goodies like this Rosie.
So beautiful! Missed baking this month nut I am enjoying looking at the other cakes.
lvely decoration..i wrote to maria too ..a request..do give us some simple decoration tips in SSb Challenges..
Rosie, your Christmas cake looks amazing! I love also the new background of your blog, delicious ;)
I will be making peanut butter cake for my Mike birthday soon... still looking for recipe, but I have one bookmarked.
Enjoy your day! We are freezing here in North London....
Ciao, Margot
It looks so delicious. I love the decorations on it.
Rosie, no one will mistake this for cake celebrating anything other than Christmas!
Elegant, not too frilly and no doubt delish.
Thumbs up!
Rosie, sorry I missed it this month. Your cake looks stunning and the decoration is perfect.
What a beautiful cake!!!
I'm not a bit fan of Christmas cake, but adding chocolate could tempt me, haha! Looks amazing Rosie!
You did a superb job In decorating ! I actually liked the country look it had plain !
Hi Kaitlin, thank you so much sweetie :D
Hi Rosa, thank you ~ it really is a great way of using up mincemeat and a tasty cake to boot :D
Hi M, thank you! It’s a lovely recipe which I’ve been baking for a few years since Maria kindly passed on the recipe :D
Hi Dukcy, awe thank you sweetie :D
Hi Dani, thanks so much you are so kind :D
Hi Sylvie, I thought it would be fun to add a cupcake background and thank you for your kind comment as always: D
Hi Maria, thanks for such a great bake this month ~ I really enjoyed this bake :D
Hi Val, oh yes no holding back it’s festive time ~ eat, drink and be merry :D
Hi Lisa, hey no worries sweetie we all have other commitments at times ~ pleased you’re enjoying viewing the other scrummy bakes this month :D
Hi sowmya, your wish will hopefully be grated regarding decoration tips on S&SB. I am learning as I go along the way but happy to help where I can. I will have a talk with Maria and see what we both can come up with :D
Hi Margot, awe pleased you like the background and thanks re:cake you are always so kind :D Peanut butter cake still racking my brains here for a recipe like this for my Mike’s birthday! Being for a birthday I know you would want something special.....its cold here in Lincs and snow on the way tomorrow they say on the weather forecast. Keep warm sweetie :D
Hi H.C. awe thank you sweetie this cakes gone as I baked it a few weeks ago but I still have a little of that wonderful tasting hummingbird cake left to enjoy :D
Hi Peter, thank you kind sir ~ like my mum said to me little sometimes means more in decoration....
Thank you Cookie :D
Hi Ivy, no worries sweetie I know what it can be like trying to fit everything in you wish to in blogging and sometimes it’s not always possible. Thank you for your kind words on my cake you put a huge smile on my face :D
Thank you Debs :D
Many thanks my 'dear' friends for calling by, always lovely to *see* you :D
Best wishes Rosie x
Gorgeous cake! You did a slendid job on decorating it! WOW!
~ingrid
Such an elegant and pretty cake!
Thank you so much Ingrid and n33ma :D
Lovely to *see* you both here and thanks for calling by!
best wishes Rosie x
This is Not cake....THIS...is a work of ART!!! Beautiful Sweetie!!!hughugs
what a pretty cake! Lovely decoration!
What a gorgeous cake! So elegant and festive.
What an elegant looking cake!
my first time here... & the first time i am hearing about this event.
Lovely blog!!
That is one pretty cake...the red bow against the white makes it look elegant...
Wow What a gorgeous cake Rosie, I could just eat a slice of that and it's only 8am lol. Sorry I didn't get around to taking part this month.
that looks amazing, rosie. fantastic job with the frosting!
Rosie this Cake look absolutely awesome and nice!!!! beauty work!!! Gloria
I wish I could unwrap a piece of this cake! YUM!
Gorgeously decorated with that sumptious red ribbon...
First of all, sorry that I had to miss taking part in this challenge. :(
Second of all, your cake is beautiful, Rosie!!! With a simple bow-tie made it looked elegant. :)
this cake sounds amazing! what a delicious combination of ingredients! You did such a beautiful job of decorating it too!
Hi Donna, many thanks sweetie you are really kind hugshugs to you :D
Thank you Uma for your kind words :D
Hi Coco, I’m enjoying your cookie bakes and thanks for your lovely comment :D
Hi Soma, a huge welcome to my little blog and lovely to *meet* you! I hope you will join us sometime at Sweet & Simple Bakes it would be great :D Thank you for your kind words too much appreciated.
Hi Rachel, thank you! I’m a sucker for bows on Christmas type cakes lol
Hi Nickki, thanks sweetie and sometimes other things have to take priority and it’s not always able to participate in every event we would like, I fully understand... hopefully we’ll see you baking with us again soon
Hi Arundathi, thankssweetie! It was a fun bake wasn’t it this month? :D Your cake looks beautiful
Hi Gloira, ahhh thank you ‘dear’ Gloria as always you are so kind :D
Hi Maria, you must welcome to a slice or two of cake :D
Hi Sage, thank you and thanks also for partaking in the event ~ your cake looks stunning :D
Hi lilmizlynn, as I said to Nickki, sometimes other things have to take priority and it’s not always able to participate in every event we would like, hopefully we’ll see you baking with us again soon :D
Hi Emily Rose, hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with your family :D Thank you, this really is a lovely quick Christmas cake and it does taste very good :D
Thank you all so very much for calling by and for all your kind words, I do appreciate it!
With best wishes Rosie x
Pretty, pretty, pretty!! :) Perfect!
Very pretty and very elegant cake. Sounds and looks amazing all around.
What a beautiful cake Rosie!
Your cake looks so beautiful, perfect for the season.
I likd the simple style of decoration which speaks for itself.
Ooh, Rosie I like the bling bling! :) What an elegant cake to enjoy for Christmas.
What a yummy cake you made Rosie..Its elegant as well as tempting..perfect for the occasion..go ready with a glass of wine..
what a beautiful cake - love the bow, I can never tie bows like that!
This has a simple elegance to it. Very nice!
Hi Namratha,thank you and I love your banana cake :D
Hi Maria, it’s a lovely quick cake for the festive period and I’ve been baking this now for a few years.
Thank you Cakelaw :D
Hi Aparna, thank you! This year I went for white on white with this simple decor of a few stars :D
Hi Caroline, I managed to buy some lovely silver and gold edible glitter from my sugarcraft shop. I like a little bling-bling hahaha..
Hi Ann, I totally agree with the glass of wine and cake :D
Hi C.C. bows are tricky little devils to tie aren’t they!!
Many thanks to you all for calling by and leaving such kind comments!
Best wishes Rosie x
Rosie....Stunninf Cake!!!...Could not take my eyes of it....Love the decoration...so fairy like...
Thanks a lot for that lovely comment on my cake...
Will look forward to nest months bake off ...Luv...Amu :-)
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