Countdown to Christmas ...25

My Mother's Christmas Cake... 

Each year, I try to blog a visual advent calendar . This year, my mother turned 90 and I am dedicating this series of blog posts to her because this year, it's all about Christmas Cake, and of course I am starting off with my mother's much loved Christmas Cake - moist, delicious and  intoxicatingly rich. 

For more years than I can remember ( probably about 40 years) , my mother has been sending me Christmas cakes, so I don't remember ever making a cake for Christmas! You might think that this is not such a significant gesture, but my mother lives  interstate 1593 km ( 990 miles) away, so she has had to depend on Australia Post or adding to the luggage allowance of visiting relatives.The longest distance Christmas cakes have had to be sent is when we were living in Bombala, NSW  which is 2393 km (1486 miles) away from Townsville, Queensland. Throughout the years, it has never been just one cake - there is always one for my husband's family Christmas celebration as well , and usually another spare!

Many people have asked my mother for this recipe, but many many years ago, she promised a friend that she would not  distribute this cake recipe to others and she has kept her word.  This has its drawbacks, as Mum then has to make many cakes as we dare not try to replicate this  recipe although I think some of us have tried to watch and remember the ingredients and method. It is a dried fruit laden boiled cake.  I personally think the secret of this beautiful cake is the "feeding" of the cake - the process of adding alcohol regularly to the cooked cake over a month or so.  Nothing like some good quality brandy to add that extra  flavour! Perhaps rum or even sherry would also suffice, but whatever the alcohol, it seems to add another dimension of  richness.

We have broken the tradition of not cutting the cake until Christmas Eve and can attest on this first day of Advent that this year's cake is better than ever!  Thanks, Mum!

Previous post about Christmas cake: 
http://empresswu.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/christmas-countdown-2-christmas-cake.html