Gloverly Cupcakes

This year I decided to try something very different for my Christmas cake, rather than doing something traditional I thought I would do something silly! I’d seen a photo of a turkey cake and thought I would try something similar. I also wanted to try a different flavoured Christmas cake but still wanted it to be a fruit cake so it would keep. Click 

I based my cake recipe on the quantities from Delia Smiths traditional Christmas cake recipe but substituted most of the raisins, currants and sultanas for cranberries and dried sour cherries. I also added a lot more orange zest, substituted some flour for cocoa powder and added some chopped up Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients For the pre-soaking:

250g dried sour cherries

175g raisins

200g dried cranberries

75g mixed chopped candied peel

100ml rum

For the cake:

175g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ level teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

½ level teaspoon ground mixed spice

225g dark brown soft sugar

4 large eggs

1 dessertspoon black treacle

225g softened butter

50g chopped almonds (skin on)

1 Terry’s Chocolate Orange chopped into small chunks

Zest of 3 oranges

For feeding: light rum to ‘feed’ the cake

• You will need an 8” or 20cm round cake tin, greased, with base and side lined plus some baking parchment. Tie a double band of brown paper (or newspaper) around the outside of the tin for extra protection.

• Get the pre-soak ingredients ready the night before you make the cake. Put all the fruits in a bowl and mix them with the rum, cover with a cloth and leave them to soak for a minimum of 12 hours.

• The next day pre-heat the oven to 140°C, gas mark 1.

• Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt and spices into a bowl.

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter till light and fluffy.

• Add the eggs one at a time until they are all incorporated, scraping down the sides after each addition.

• Now gradually fold in the treacle, pre-soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts, chocolate orange and finally the grated orange zest.

• Transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread it out evenly with the back of the spoon. Use the back of the spoon to make a small dip in the middle of the cake mixture (this should help prevent the cake rising with a big dome)

• Take a double layer of baking parchment cut to the size of the tin and cut a 50p-sized hole in the centre (for extra protection during the cooking) and place this not on top of the mixture itself but on the rim of the brown paper.

• Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4 hours until it feels springy in the centre when lightly touched and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

• It can take longer than 4 hours if your oven is slightly cooler, but don’t open the oven door before 4 hours.

• Cool the cake in the tin.

• Once cooled, ‘feed’ it by making small holes in the top and bottom with a cocktail stick and spooning in a couple of tablespoons of Armagnac or brandy, then wrap it in parchment paper and store in an airtight tin for about 6 week.

• Every week remove the cake from the tin, unwrap and feed with another tablespoon or 2 of brandy or Armagnac.

I have been unable to find out who made the original turkey cake, but the idea came from Pinterest. As I was making a fruit cake I didn’t want to cover the cake in buttercream like in the photo. I covered the cakes in marzipan and then covered one in orange sugar paste and one in chocolate modelling paste and then painted melted chocolate over the top to give it some texture.

All the feathers were made using florist sugarpaste. They were cut out and left to dry before dusting with various coloured petal dusts. The turkey’s head and neck was made with brown sugar paste and details were made from more florist sugar paste.

The cake was slightly tricky to assemble, each feather was stuck into place with melted chocolate and had to be held for a minute or so to ensure the chocolate was hardening and the feather was .

We tried some of the off cuts of the cake and they tasted pretty good, so looking forward to having a proper slice after Christmas!