Traditional English Christmas cake with dried fruit. Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts - recipes for delicious holiday baking

According to a long-standing tradition, Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts is prepared 2-3 weeks before the holiday. While waiting, the product is soaked from time to time in alcohol to prevent molding and to impart a refined taste and aroma. However, nothing will prevent you from tasting the delicious delicacy even after it has cooled.

A Christmas cake is baked with dried fruits and a portion of nuts, which are complemented by delicate dough and all kinds of spicy additives.

Dried fruits are pre-soaked in alcohol, and nuts are browned.
Knead the dough, combine with additives, bake until done.
The finished Christmas cupcake with dried fruits and nuts is decorated with icing and appropriate decorative elements.

English Christmas Cake - Recipe

For many years, cooks in England have perfected the traditional recipe for holiday baking so that the result is beyond praise. Prepared by following the recommendations below, a classic English Christmas cake will allow you to get incredible gastronomic pleasure from tasting it

Ingredients:

dried fruits - 800−900 g;
cognac - 400 ml;
eggs - 4 pcs.;
flour, butter and sugar - 230 g each;
ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and pepper - a pinch each;
honey and orange zest - 1 tbsp. spoon;
almonds - 100 g;
hazelnuts and pistachios - 50 g each.

Preparation

Soak dried fruits in cognac (300 ml).
Grind butter with sugar and eggs.
Add honey, spices, zest, flour, and then dried fruits and nuts.
Bake the cake in the mold for 1 hour at 150 degrees and another 3 hours at 130 degrees under foil.
The product is soaked in cognac and kept in foil for 2-3 weeks.

German Christmas cake Stollen - recipe

No less magnificent is stollen, a Christmas cake that German housewives prepare for the holiday. The peculiarity of this recipe is the use of yeast dough with dried fruits and marzipan filling. Nuts are often simply mixed into the dough, which is then rolled out and folded in half before baking.

Ingredients:

raisins, dried apricots - 200 g each;
almonds - 250 g;
cognac - 50 ml;
eggs - 2 pcs.;
butter - 250 g;
cinnamon and vanilla - 1 teaspoon each;
milk - 200 ml;
sugar - 75 g;
lemon - 1 pc.;
fresh yeast - 50 g;
powdered sugar, salt.

Preparation

Dried fruits are soaked in cognac.
Yeast is diluted in warm milk, a spoonful of sugar and flour is added, and left for 30 minutes.
Mix sugar, salt, butter and flour into the dough and leave the dough to rise.
Add dried fruits, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla and zest, knead and let sit again for 3 hours.
Divide the lump into 2 parts, roll it out, fold it in half.
Bake a cupcake with dried apricots, raisins and nuts for 1 hour at 180 degrees.
Generously lubricate the hot product with oil and sprinkle with powder.

Italian Christmas panettone cake

Italian Christmas cake is similar in taste and appearance to Easter cake. A delicacy is prepared with raisins, nuts and candied fruits from yeast dough with a large amount of baking. If desired, add citrus zest, cut dried apricots, and other dried fruits to the composition, and flavor the base with vanilla.

Ingredients:

dried fruits, nuts and candied fruits - 300 g;
eggs - 2 pcs.;
yolks - 6 pcs.;
butter - 120 g;
flour - 700−800 g;
vanilla - to taste;
milk - 250 ml;
sugar - 130 g;
dry yeast - 15 g;
salt.

Preparation

Dissolve yeast in milk, adding 2 tablespoons of sugar and flour, leave for 10-15 minutes.
Add eggs with sugar, yolks, butter, salt, vanilla and flour.
Knead the dough, adding dried fruits, nuts and candied fruits, leave in a warm place for 2-3 hours.
Fill the molds halfway with dough and bake the products at 180 degrees.

Christmas cupcake with dried fruits and rum

A spicy Christmas cake takes on an incredible aroma and taste when baked with a savory mix of fragrant spices. Dried fruits added to the dough are pre-soaked several days or ideally a week before the dough is supposed to be kneaded in high-quality rum.

Ingredients:

dried fruits - 600 g;
rum - 250 ml;
eggs - 4 pcs.;
flour - 240 g;
ground almonds - 60 g;
butter - 200 g;
baking powder - 10 g;
vanilla and cinnamon - 0.5-1 teaspoon each;
nutmeg, cardamom, cloves - a pinch;
sugar - 150 g.

Preparation

Soak dried fruits in rum.
Beat butter with sugar and eggs.
Add flour, almonds, baking powder, spices and dried fruits.
Transfer the dough into a mold and bake the cake at 170 degrees.

Christmas chocolate cupcake

Chocolate-nut cake acquires a special juiciness and aroma due to the addition of cocoa, spices and soaking the product with tangerine juice. After cooling, you can cover the treat with chocolate icing from melted chocolate, adding a tablespoon of heavy cream and decorate to your taste.

Ingredients:

raisins - 400 g;
cognac - 100 ml;
walnuts or almonds - 150 g;
eggs - 3 pcs.;
flour - 200 g;
cocoa - 50 g;
baking powder - 20 g;
butter - 150 g;
cinnamon - 2 teaspoons;
brown sugar - 150 g;
tangerines - 4 pcs.;
chocolate glaze. spices.

Preparation

Soak raisins in cognac.
Beat eggs with sugar and butter.
Add cocoa, flour, baking powder, and spices.
Stir in raisins and nuts and bake the cake at 170 degrees.
Squeeze the juice from the tangerines, remove the zest, boil, pour the juice into the hot cake in the mold, and leave for 20 minutes.
Remove the chocolate cake with walnuts and raisins to a wire rack and cover with frosting.

Gingerbread Christmas Cupcake

Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts is a recipe that perfectly supports various kinds of experiments. The product acquires a special aroma when grated ginger root or ground ginger is added to the dough. In this case, both components are used, which will only enhance the fragrance.

Ingredients:

dried fruits - 250 g;
bananas - 200 g;
rum - 100 ml;
eggs - 2 pcs.;
flour - 300 g;
cocoa - 40 g;
nuts - 100 g;
vegetable oil - 130 ml;
baking powder and soda - 10 g each;
honey and sugar - 100 g each;
fresh and ground ginger - 1 tbsp. spoon;
cinnamon - 1 teaspoon.

Preparation

Soak dried fruits in rum overnight.
Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, dry ginger, cinnamon.
Beat eggs with sugar.
Add banana puree, honey, fresh ginger, oil and dry mixture, knead, adding nuts and dried fruits.
Bake Christmas ginger cake with dried fruits and nuts at 170 degrees for 1 hour.

Christmas cake in a bread machine

A delicious chocolate Christmas cake with raisins, the recipe for which will be presented below, is prepared in a bread maker, which greatly simplifies the task. You just need to prepare all the necessary ingredients in advance and simply put them in the device’s bucket, following the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Ingredients:

raisins and nuts - 100 g each;
bananas - 2 pcs.;
rum - 50 ml;
eggs - 3 pcs.;
flour - 280 g;
cocoa - 50 g;
nuts - 100 g;
sugar - 140 g;
margarine - 150 g;
baking powder and vanilla sugar - 2 teaspoons each.

Preparation

All ingredients for the dough are placed in a bucket.
Select the “Cupcake” mode.
After the signal, add chopped bananas, raisins soaked in rum and nuts.

Christmas cake in a slow cooker

The cake is simply prepared in a slow cooker with nuts and dried fruits, which, as in the traditional recipe, need to be soaked in alcohol. The filling set can be compiled at your own discretion, using various varieties of nuts, dried apricots, raisins, figs, dates, all kinds of spices and other components.

Ingredients:

dried fruits - 600 g;
nuts - 100 g;
alcohol - 250 ml;
eggs - 4 pcs.;
flour - 250 g;
brown sugar - 120 g;
butter - 200 g;
baking powder and zest - 2 teaspoons each;
spices.

Preparation

Dried fruits are soaked in alcohol.
Knead the dough from butter with sugar, eggs and flour, adding spices, baking powder, zest, and then mixing in nuts and dried fruits.
Transfer the mixture into a bowl and bake the cake on “Baking” for 110 minutes on one side and another 30 on the other.

Christmas cake recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

It’s easy to prepare, but the Christmas cupcake from Yulia Vysotskaya turns out to be simply amazing in taste. The finished product can simply be generously greased with butter and sprinkled generously with powdered sugar while it is hot, or covered with glaze and decorated to taste a few hours before it is intended to be served.

Ingredients:

dried fruits - 1 kg;
hazelnuts and almonds - 100 g each;
alcohol - 300 ml;
eggs - 5 pcs.;
flour, brown sugar and butter - 350 g each;
baking powder - 1 teaspoon;
spices.

Preparation

Dried fruits are soaked in rum.
Beat butter with sugar and butter, add eggs, spices, baking powder and flour in the process.
Stir in dried fruits and nuts, bake the cake at 160 degrees for 2.5-3 hours.

This recipe, mysterious and wonderful, like a premonition of the Holiday, enchanted me! An amazing cupcake, full of dried fruits and nuts of all kinds (of which there is more in it than dough!), amazingly fragrant and beautiful; both unusual and simple in its preparation method... This is a delicious recipe!

English Christmas cake with dried fruits and nuts should be baked 2-4, or up to 6 weeks before Christmas, so that it is well set. This year I tried the recipe for the first time and am sharing it with you, and next Christmas we will bake it together! We have already learned how to bake traditional German stollen and Austrian thaler cookies, and now let's master English Christmas baking.

I cooked according to the recipe from Victoria Golovashevich, but not the full amount, but half a portion - the result was a cake in a 17 cm mold.

Ingredients:

115 g wheat flour;
115 g sugar;
115 g butter;
2 large eggs;
0.5 teaspoon ground ginger;
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon;
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg;
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves;
A pinch of vanillin;
1/6 teaspoon salt;
0.5 tablespoon of liquid dark honey (for example, buckwheat; can be replaced with sweet syrup);
Orange zest;
150 ml of cognac for soaking dried fruits and 75 ml for soaking the cake;
350 g of different dried fruits, the more types, the more interesting, tastier and more colorful the cupcake will be. I took dark and light raisins, dried cranberries and cherries; dried apricots and prunes.
50 g almonds;
25 g hazelnuts;
25 g pistachios;
1 tablespoon of baking powder (there was no baking powder in the original recipe, I added my own).

For registration:

A packet of vanilla frosting;
1 egg white;
Optional confectionery topping.

How to bake:

Dried fruits need to be soaked in cognac in advance - at least a day before. Or it can be done in a week or two, although I haven’t tried it. When they are infused and soaked, you can start preparing the cake.

Scatter the nuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven, preheated to 200 C. Dry, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes. Let it cool.

Nuts and dried fruits can be cut into pieces, or they can be put whole into the dough. The second option is simpler, faster and, according to the author of the recipe, the cake turns out more beautiful when cut. But when cutting into pieces, it is easier for the dough to rise.

We cover the bottom of the mold with confectionery parchment, grease the paper and the walls of the mold with oil.

Beat softened butter with sugar.

Add honey. If it has sugared and become thick, heat it a little in a water bath - the honey will become liquid again. Wash the orange thoroughly with a brush under hot water, remove the zest and also add to the dough, beat lightly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture until fluffy each time.

Sift the flour, add spices, salt and baking powder.

Mix the dough.

We combine the dried and cooled nuts with dried fruits, after draining the unabsorbed cognac.

Add the colorful, aromatic mixture to the dough and mix thoroughly. Place the dough into the mold.

Baking an English muffin with dried fruit is a whole story, long and exciting! A dense cake with so many fruits and nuts should be well baked in the middle without burning on the outside. Place the pan on the middle level and bake at 150C for about 1.5 hours. The cake will become golden brown, but the middle will still remain raw. Therefore, we will cover the pan with baking foil so that the top does not burn, and I placed a cast-iron frying pan with water on the bottom of the oven to protect the bottom of the cake from burning. Reduce the temperature to 130C and continue to slowly bake the cake until done, which will take up to 3 hours. You can determine the exact baking time according to your oven by testing the cake with a wooden stick. When it remains dry, the cake is ready.

After removing the pan from the oven, let the cake cool completely. Then turn it over and use a skewer to make holes, as in the recipe for lemon or orange cupcakes. And soak in cognac, pouring evenly using a tablespoon.

After waiting for the cognac to be absorbed, wrap the cake in two layers of parchment and then in foil.

I then placed the wrapped cake in a plastic bag and sealed it tightly. Now you need to be patient - this baking miracle should be stored for 2 to 4 weeks in a cool, dry place. I kept it in the refrigerator, and if it’s not frosty outside, you can keep it on the balcony. Don't worry that the cake will spoil - nothing will harm it, because it is soaked in a large amount of alcohol, which acts as a preservative. Moreover, in theory, by the time the cake is tasted, the alcohol has evaporated, leaving a delicious aroma.

A week before Christmas (originally 2) I took out the cupcake to decorate it with frosting.

The author makes Royal Icing, and I made vanilla, like for decorating Easter cakes. Beat the frosting with fresh egg whites until thick and snow-white, and cover the top and sides of the cake with it.

For the remaining time before the holiday, keep the cupcake in the air so that the glaze dries - again, in a dry and cool place.

And now we finally tried this wonderful Christmas Cupcake!

It smells so amazing!!! And what a rich look in cross-section!.. Surprisingly dark, like golden-brown velvet, and just as tender - the cake did not dry out at all, on the contrary, it turned out to be very tender, soft and crumbled when cutting. Even whole nuts became soft! And the glaze probably needs to be chosen differently - this one dried out and also crumbled. And, no matter what they write about how alcohol evaporates, the taste of the cupcake seemed to me very much like Cherry with Cognac candies. But how delicious and unusual it is!!! The British are great :) Now we will bake this wonderful cupcake for Christmas!

In European countries, Christmas is considered the main winter holiday. On this day, people try to celebrate the holiday with their families, wish each other happiness and joy, decorate their homes and be sure to serve traditional dishes for each nation.

Among all the holiday dishes, Christmas cupcakes and pies stand out, which are especially popular in some countries. The most famous of them are the German stollen, the Italian panforte and the English Christmas cake.

And what could be tastier than aromatic, spicy and delicious pastries with lots of dried fruits, candied fruits and nuts, soaked in rum.

Christmas will come very soon, first it will be celebrated in Europe, and a little later here. And maybe some of you will want to prepare delicious pastries for the table. And this article will help you.

English muffins are baked 1.5 months before Christmas. During this time, it must brew and soak in strong alcohol. It is usually soaked in rum, whiskey or cognac, which gives it a sweet, spicy taste and enhances the aroma of spices. Traditional spices are cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Every day the smell of spices becomes stronger and reminds us that Christmas is approaching.

The finished cake is decorated with marzipan and white icing and stored in foil. Or simply sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

We will need:

flour - 250 gr
butter - 100 g + 2 teaspoons for greasing the mold
milk - 150 ml
egg yolks - 3 pcs
sugar - 150 gr
vanillin - sachet
salt - a pinch
baking powder - 1 teaspoon
cognac, rum or brandy - 70 - 100 ml
dark and white raisins – 100 g
dried apricots - 50 gr
figs – 50 gr
candied fruits – 100 gr
ground cinnamon - 1 pinch
ground cloves - 1 pinch
ground cardamom - 1 pinch
nutmeg - 1 pinch
orange - 1 pinch
powdered sugar - for sprinkling

Preparation:

1. Rinse dried fruits thoroughly and dry. Cut dried apricots and figs into small pieces, combine with raisins and pour alcohol over everything. I used cognac.

Stir and keep the dried fruits in the ridge for 24 hours, or at least overnight.

2. Wash the orange thoroughly with a brush in hot water, dry thoroughly and grate the zest on a fine grater.

3. Prepare the cake pan in advance. It needs to be coated with butter. If necessary, you can line the pan with baking paper and only then grease it with butter.

4. Let's prepare the dough. The butter must be melted and mixed with sugar until smooth.

5. Separate the yolks from the whites. We don't need whites in this recipe. Add the yolks one at a time to the sugar and butter mixture.

6. Sift the flour and add to the dough in small portions along with milk.

7. Continuing to beat, add baking powder, salt, vanillin, orange zest and all the spices. To stir thoroughly.

8. Drain the liquid from the dried fruits and add them to the dough.

Don't pour out the liquid, we'll need it later. Add candied fruits.

Mix the dough thoroughly again.

9. Place the dough in the prepared baking dish. The shape may vary.

10. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and place the pan in a baking tray on a medium level. Bake for 40-50 minutes, depending on the characteristics of the oven.

The finished cake should be browned and when pricked with a toothpick, there should be no batter left on it.

11. Remove the cake from the oven and grease it with butter and pour the alcohol drained from the dried fruits over it. Let cool slightly, remove, place on a plate and sprinkle thickly with powdered sugar using a sieve. This is if you eat it on the same day.

And if you insist it before Christmas, then bake the cake 2 weeks before it. The finished hot cake must be additionally soaked in alcohol and allowed to cool. Then wrap in baking paper and then in foil and store in a cool place for 2 weeks until Christmas, soaking it in alcohol from time to time!

Try to keep the packaging sealed to preserve the aroma.

The cupcake turns out incredibly beautiful, fragrant, with a spicy smell and an amazing delicate taste!

Video about how cupcakes are prepared for Christmas in Britain (English fruitcake)

The video provided provides you with general provisions and a complete recipe for English Christmas cake with some secrets. And also the cooking sequence.

As you can see, preparing delicious pastries using this recipe is not at all difficult. You just need to do it in advance, especially since there is still time for this!

German Christmas cake with candied fruits and nuts - delicious stollen

Before the holidays, these loaf-like traditional German muffins, called stollen in Germany, appear at numerous Christmas markets and store shelves. This pastry symbolizes the Christmas log. Some people buy it in the store, while others prefer to bake it at home. So today we will bake stollen at home.

We will need (for 2 cupcakes):

flour - 500 gr
butter - 150 g
eggs - 2 pcs
milk - 200 ml
sugar - 150 gr
dry yeast - 1 teaspoon
zest of two lemons
vanillin - 1 sachet
raisins light and dark -100 gr
almonds - 100 gr
candied fruits – 100 gr
ground ginger - 1 teaspoon
rum or cognac - 100 ml
salt - a pinch
ready marzipan mass - 200 g

Preparation:

1. Pour alcohol over dried fruits and nuts and leave to steep for a day or overnight.

2. Prepare yeast sponge dough. To begin, slightly warm 100 ml. milk, add 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar, mix and leave for 15 minutes until the dough becomes “alive”.

3. Beat the remaining milk with the eggs.

4. Mix sugar, vanilla, salt, all ground spices and zest.

5. Add mixed dry ingredients and egg mixture with milk to the fermented dough. Stir thoroughly until smooth.

6. Slowly add flour.

7. Soften the butter, add to the dough and mix everything thoroughly. Knead for 10 minutes, then cover with a napkin and leave for 1-2 hours to rise.

8. Drain the liquid from the dried fruits and add them to the dough, which by then has already risen. Do not pour out the liquid. Mix.

9. Divide the dough into two parts. Roll each into an oval layer no more than 2 cm thick.

10. Place marzipan mass on each layer. Fold up the edges and cover the marzipan.

11. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and grease it with oil. Place both cupcakes and let rise for 30-40 minutes.

12. Bake for an hour at 160 degrees.

13. Take out the finished stollen and grease them with butter, pour over the alcohol drained from the dried fruits. Leave to cool. Then soak in cognac.

You can eat right away. In this case, the cooled cake will need to be generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. Or you can wrap it in baking paper, then tightly wrap it in foil and store until Christmas in the refrigerator or other cold place, periodically soaking the cake with cognac.

Christmas cake from Germany - curd stollen

We will need:

flour - 500 gr
cottage cheese - 250 gr
butter - 125 g + 1 - 2 tbsp. spoons for greasing
sugar - 150 gr
egg - 2 pcs
almonds - 100 gr
dark and light raisins - 100 g
candied fruits – 50 gr
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
vanillin - 1 sachet
ground nutmeg - 1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
ground ginger - 1 teaspoon
baking powder - 1 teaspoon
rum or cognac - 50-70 g
salt - a pinch
powdered sugar - for sprinkling

Preparation:

1. Rinse lemon and orange in hot water with a brush. Then dry and grate the zest. Mix the zest with raisins and pour in cognac. Leave to infuse overnight.

2. Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve and mix it with softened butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla.

3. Sift flour and baking powder, add salt and dry spices. Mix.

4. Combine both mixtures. Drain the liquid from the raisins, add all the dried fruits and almonds. The almonds can be pre-cut, or you can leave them whole. Knead the dough.

5. The dough turns out quite steep, but that’s how it should be. It needs to be thoroughly kneaded until smooth.

6. Grease a baking dish with butter and place the dough into it.

7. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the cake for 50 - 60 minutes. Take out the finished stollen and grease it with butter.

8. Coat the cooled cake with cognac, wrap it in baking paper and then tightly in foil, and leave to steep for two weeks.

Once or twice a week, soak the top with cognac.

9. Sprinkle the finished stollen thickly with powdered sugar and serve, cut into slices.

Stollen gains its strength 2-3 weeks after infusion. So if you decide to make it for Christmas, make it ahead of time.

In Italy, many different pastries are baked for Christmas. One of them is prepared quite simply, this is a delicious nutty delicacy - panforte, which is a cross between gingerbread, gingerbread and pie. But whatever it is, it's a delicious Christmas treat!

Italian panforte cake with dried fruits and spices

We will need:

flour - 90 gr
brown sugar - 100 gr
butter - 30 g
olive oil - 1 tbsp. spoon
honey - 200 gr
hazelnuts – 100 gr
dried figs - 100 gr
dried apricots - 50 gr
raisins – 100 gr
zest of 1 lemon
ground ginger - 0.5 teaspoon
ground cloves - 0.5 teaspoon
ground allspice - 0.5 teaspoon
ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
cardamom - a pinch
cocoa powder - 1 tbsp. spoon
salt - a pinch
powdered sugar - for sprinkling

Preparation:

1. Rinse all dried fruits in running water and dry with a paper towel. Cut figs and dried apricots into small pieces.

2. Sift the flour, add all the spices, cocoa powder, salt, zest, nuts and dried fruits. Mix.

3. Heat the butter in a saucepan, add sugar and honey. Stirring, bring to a boil and heat for 2-3 minutes. Then remove from heat.

4. Prepare the cake pan in advance. You will need a mold with a diameter of 20 cm. It should be lined with paper and greased with olive oil.

5. Pour the hot syrup into the flour mixture and mix thoroughly. Spread the mixture into the pan in an even layer.

6. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Bake the cake for 30-40 minutes until done. Check readiness with a toothpick. If you pierce a cupcake with it. then there should be no batter left on it.

7. Remove the finished cake from the oven and let cool. You can coat the top with butter.

8. Place the cooled panforte in foil and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Wrap and store in the refrigerator until Christmas.

9. When serving, cut the cake into pieces. Enjoy eating!

The next type of Christmas baking also applies to pies. And it deserves our attention.

Portuguese king cake with candied fruits for Christmas

This pie is a traditional Christmas pie in Portugal. In shape and decoration, it resembles a royal headdress, all decorated with rubies, emeralds and other precious stones, the role of which candied fruits will play in our recipe.

We will need:

flour - 500 gr
fresh yeast - 30 g
milk - 100 ml
egg yolks - 3 pcs
butter - 100 g
champagne - 150 ml
zest of one lemon
salt - a pinch
candied fruits and dried fruits (any) - 350 gr

Preparation:

1. Sift all the flour. Place a third of the flour in a bowl. Dissolve yeast in warm milk, add 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar and add to flour. Allow the dough to stand until it begins to “breathe” and increases in size.

2. Prepare candied fruits and dried fruits. Wash and dry dried fruits, cut half of the large ones into pieces. You can use any candied fruits and dried fruits. The more there are, the tastier the pie will be. Use dried cherries, figs, dried apricots, raisins, pears, pumpkin, and citrus peels. You can add any nuts and seeds.

3. Make a small well in the remaining flour. Place the yolks in it and mix them with the flour using a fork.

4. Add salt, zest, champagne and melted butter, as well as the prepared dough. Add half of the dried fruits and candied fruits. Knead the dough. Roll into a ball and place in a warm place until the dough rises. To prevent it from drying out, you can grease it with olive oil or cover it with a towel.

The finished dough should double in size.

5. Grease a baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with flour. Place the dough on a baking sheet, forming a round hole in the middle (the following video recipe clearly shows how to do this). We need to get a pie shape.

6. Place whole dried fruits and remaining candied fruits on the prepared workpiece.

7. Let stand until the dough increases in volume.

8. Preheat the oven to 160-170 degrees. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Make sure that the pie does not burn.

9. Take out the finished pie, lightly coat with oil, cover with paper and a towel. Let stand for a while and cool.

10. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm or cold with tea.

Video on how to make Portuguese holiday cake

The entire sequence is described in the previous recipe. Yes, in principle, everything is clear from the video. I give only the exact recipe of the necessary products. Watch the video and you will understand everything!

We will need:

flour - 900 gr
yeast - 50 g
water - 100 ml
dark beer - 150 ml
egg - 4 pcs
sugar - 200 gr
butter - 100 g
red wine such as Port - 100 ml
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
pine nuts – 75 g
raisins – 100 gr
walnuts – 75 gr
candied fruits -200 gr

For registration:

powdered sugar
candied fruit
fruit jelly
egg - for greasing

Preparation:

1. Knead the dough from 250 grams of flour, yeast and warm water. Leave for 1 hour.

2. Then, adding all the ingredients one by one, knead the dough and let it brew for 1.5 hours.

3. Form a pie and bake for 40 - 45 minutes at 180 degrees.

Anyway, I figured it out. I think you will figure it out too!

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that I have already shared its recipe with you. This pie is different from all the others, and deserves attention to be prepared.

Well, that's all for today. Prepare cupcakes and pies for Christmas. Delight your loved ones with your baked goods, and may your holiday be a great one!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!

Christmas is one of the main holidays in Europe. It is celebrated by almost every family. People get together, set the table and spend the evening in a quiet and cozy atmosphere. Each country has its own traditional dishes. And this applies not only to the main dishes on the festive table. A variety of Christmas pies are baked in different countries.

In England they bake a “long” cake, which is prepared several weeks before the holiday. This traditional Christmas cake, filled with dried fruit and nuts, should be kept in a dark place and cut just before serving.

You can “play” with the baking time when making a cake from Germany. The traditional German Christmas pie Stolle can be prepared either a month or a day before the holiday. This will not change its taste at all.

Just like England and Germany, almost every country boasts a unique Christmas cake recipe. And the best and most “delicious” recipes are presented below.

English Christmas cake

Ingredients:

Flour - 250 grams.
Sugar - 250 grams.
Buckwheat honey - one tablespoon.
Zest of one orange.
Butter - 250 grams.
Eggs - four pieces.
Nutmeg - one fourth teaspoon.
Cognac - 300 milliliters.
Cloves - one fourth of a teaspoon.
Vanillin - half a teaspoon.
Salt - a third of a teaspoon.
Dried fruits - 600 grams.
Almonds - one hundred grams.
Hazelnuts - fifty grams.
Pistachios - fifty grams.
Ginger - one teaspoon.
Cinnamon - half a teaspoon.
Baking powder - two teaspoons.

Cooking the pie

This Christmas pie with dried fruits is prepared one and a half to two months before Christmas. It must be soaked and infused. This is an indispensable condition for cooking. Therefore, about a week in advance, place all the dried fruits in a container and fill them with cognac. Close it all with a lid and leave the cherries, prunes, light and dark raisins, dried apricots and cranberries to soak in the alcoholic drink. All prepared nuts must be dried. To do this, pour them onto a baking sheet and place them in the oven at a temperature of one hundred and ninety degrees for five to six minutes, remembering to stir them. After drying, the nuts should cool. Dried fruits and nuts can be cut into pieces, but according to the original recipe, this is not necessary. In addition, the more nuts and dried fruits in the Christmas pie, the tastier it will be.

Now you can start preparing the dough. Place soft butter in a convenient bowl, add sugar and beat with a mixer. Add the grated zest of one large orange and a spoonful of honey. Next, you need to place all the eggs into the bowl one at a time, beating the contents of the bowl after each added egg.

Pour twice-sifted wheat flour, baking powder, all the spices prepared according to the Christmas pie recipe, salt into the fluffy mixture and mix all the ingredients. Place the dried fruits in a colander to drain off the remaining cognac and place in the dough, including the nuts. Mix the dough well again.

The dough for the Christmas pie is ready. You need to prepare a baking dish. Be sure to place baking paper at the bottom and grease it and the sides of the pan with oil. Transfer the dough into a greased pan. Now comes the most crucial moment - baking the pie. This process will take quite a long time. Since the pie consists of a large amount of dried fruits and nuts, when baking it, it is necessary to strictly observe the temperature and amount of time.

First, the oven should be preheated to one hundred and fifty degrees. Place the pan with the dough in the center of the oven and bake for an hour and a half. Then remove the pie from the oven and carefully cover the top with a sheet of foil. This will prevent the top of the pie from burning, and the bottom of the pie will be protected by placing a container of water on the bottom of the oven. Lower the temperature to one hundred and thirty degrees, return the pie to the oven and bake for about two more hours.

Remove the pie from the oven and wait until it cools. Then remove the cake from the mold and turn it over. Pierce in several places with a toothpick and soak the pie with cognac. Gradually pour one hundred to one hundred and fifty milliliters of cognac on top of the pie. Give the cake time to soak and wrap it in baking paper. Then wrap it in foil, and then place it in a food bag and seal it.

Decorating the pie

English Christmas cake can be stored in the refrigerator for a month. During this time, the alcohol will evaporate and only a wonderful aroma will remain. About a week before the holiday, the pie needs to be decorated. To do this, you need to take a package of vanilla glaze and beat it with the white of one egg until fluffy and decorate the entire cake with it. After decorating, place the pie in the refrigerator. There is no need to cover it with anything anymore. Serve it on the festive table on Christmas Eve.

German Stolle Pie

This pie does not have a very usual shape and is a symbol of the little Christ in swaddling clothes. This delicacy is an integral part of Christmas in Germany.

Ingredients of required products:

Flour - four glasses.
Butter - 240 grams.
Dry yeast - 30 grams.
Brown sugar - six tablespoons.
Zest of one large lemon.
Sugar - three teaspoons.
Eggs - 12 pieces.
Various nuts - three glasses.
Candied fruits - one glass.
Milk - one glass.
Dark rum - one glass.
Vanilla - one stick.
Dark raisins - half a glass.
Salt - two teaspoons.

For decoration:

Butter - two hundred grams.
Powdered sugar - one glass.
Vanilla - one stick.

Cooking process

First you need to prepare the filling for the Christmas pie. You need to take a glass jar and place candied citrus fruits, dark raisins and various types of nuts in it, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are suitable. Pour a glass of dark rum and leave to soak for six to eight hours. Then drain in a colander, let dry and sprinkle with flour.

Now, in accordance with the Stolle Christmas pie recipe, you need to prepare the dough. Pour warm milk into a suitable sized bowl, add dry yeast, sugar and six tablespoons of flour. Knead the dough, cover with foil and place in a warm place for about half an hour.

Next, grate the zest of one lemon, chopped vanilla stick, soft butter, brown sugar, yolks, sifted wheat flour into a bowl with the dough and knead. Place the dough on a floured table, knead it a little and place rum-soaked nuts and candied fruits on top. Knead the dough well and transfer to a bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm place for two and a half hours.

When the dough has risen well, it must be rolled out into an oval. After this, you need to make a recess in the middle along the entire length of the oval, then bend one part of it so that it overlaps the other. Place baking paper on a baking sheet, grease with butter and place the dough on it. Cover with a towel and keep in a warm place for another hour.

Heat the oven to a temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees. Place a baking sheet with dough in it and bake for half an hour. Then take out the baking sheet and carefully cover it with baking foil. Return the cake to the oven and continue baking for another forty minutes. While the cake is baking, you need to prepare the mixture for decoration.

Melt the butter in a water bath, add the crushed vanilla stick and stir. Grease the finished hot cake with butter and sprinkle with powder. Repeat this process three times. You should get a white crust. Fragrant and delicious, German Christmas pie can be served on the holiday table.

Italian traditional Christmas cake

In Italy, they traditionally bake a rich and aromatic Panettone pie for Christmas, in which it is necessary to place as many candied fruits and dried fruits as possible, since it is believed that the more filling, the more successful and better the next year will be.

What you will need for preparation:

Flour - one and a half kilograms.
Butter -300 grams.
Eggs - ten pieces.
Milk - two glasses.
Yeast - 80 grams.
Sugar - three glasses.
Raisins - three hundred grams.
Nutmeg - two teaspoons.
Zest of one large orange.
Candied fruits - one glass.
Dried apricots - 300 grams.
Cardamom - one teaspoon.
Vanilla sugar - three packs.

Cooking the pie

Place yeast in a bowl, add four tablespoons of sugar, pour half a glass of warmed milk and stir. Pour four tablespoons of flour, mix and place in a warm place for twenty minutes. Sift four cups of flour into a large bowl, pour in warmed but not hot milk and stir. Add yeast and milk starter to the resulting mass and stir well. Place in a warm place for about an hour and a half.

The dough should grow three times and become fluffy. You will be convinced that the fermentation process is going well when holes begin to appear. This means it's time to knead the dough. In a separate bowl, beat six eggs and four yolks with a mixer, then add them to the dough. Melt the butter in a water bath and, while still warm, combine with the dough. Then pour in six glasses of sifted wheat flour and the spices and herbs prepared according to the recipe.

Be prepared for the fact that the dough for the Italian Christmas pie Panettone will have to be kneaded for quite a long time and thoroughly. At first it will stick to your hands, but you can only add a little flour. As a result of the kneading process, the dough will become soft and buttery. Place the finished elastic dough in a large bowl, cover the top with a towel and place in a warm place for one and a half to two hours.

Now you need to prepare the filling for the pie. Wash the raisins and pour boiling water over them. Grate the zest of one orange on a fine grater. Grind dried apricots and candied fruits into small pieces. The prepared dough has risen significantly. You need to knead it again, pour in all the prepared filling and knead it again. After this, you need to take a refractory baking dish, line the bottom and sides with baking paper and grease well with butter. Place the dough in it and give it about one hour to rise again.

Place the grown dough in the oven, which has been preheated to a temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees. The cake needs to be baked for about an hour. Leave the finished pie in the pan until it cools completely. Then carefully remove it from the mold. There is no need to decorate the traditional Italian Christmas cake Panettone. It is served with a cup of tea and coffee.

Dutch Christmas cake

Flour - 600 grams.
Eggs - two pieces.
Butter - 400 grams.
Semolina - six tablespoons.
Sugar - 350 grams.
Baking powder - two tablespoons.
Water - four tablespoons.
Lemon juice - fifty milliliters.
Apples - one and a half kilograms.
Walnuts - 100 grams.
Cinnamon - four teaspoons.
Orange - one piece.
Raisins - 100 grams.
Rum - six tablespoons.
Lemon - two pieces.
Apricot jam - 200 grams.
Salt - one teaspoon.

Pie making process

First you need to knead the dough for the pie. To do this, you need to take a fairly large bowl and sift the wheat flour into it. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the softened butter into pieces and add to the flour. Pour water, beat in eggs and add the zest of two lemons. Knead all these ingredients into a dough. If necessary, you can add flour during kneading. The dough should be elastic and not stick to your hands. Wrap the finished dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for one hour.

While the dough is in the refrigerator, you need to prepare the filling for the Dutch Christmas apple pie. The first thing to do is soak the apples in lemon juice. Why squeeze the juice of two lemons into a bowl. Wash the apples, cut off the peel, remove the core and cut into small cubes no larger than two centimeters in size. Place apples in a bowl with lemon juice and stir. Next, while continuing to prepare the rest of the filling, do not forget to turn the apples in the lemon juice. Raisins should be washed and poured with boiling water. Chop the nuts and grate the zest from one orange. Then place steamed raisins, chopped nuts, zest of one orange, one hundred grams of sugar, cinnamon, three tablespoons of semolina in a bowl with apples and mix all ingredients well. Set aside for about an hour and a half until they are well soaked.

Take the chilled dough from the refrigerator and cut off a third of it. Roll out the rest of the dough and place in a baking dish, which is greased with oil and sprinkled with the remaining semolina. The dough should cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Place the filling on top in a thick layer. Roll out the cut portion of the dough and divide it into strips about one and a half centimeters wide. Place the resulting strips on a layer of filling in the form of a lattice.

Baking a pie

Preheat the oven to a temperature of two hundred degrees and place the pie in it. The Dutch Christmas pie with apples will take about an hour and a half to bake. All that remains is to prepare the caramel. Place apricot jam in a small saucepan and add rum, stir and place over low heat. When the caramel boils, immediately turn off the heat. As soon as the cake is removed from the oven, it must be greased with apricot caramel. It can be served either warm or chilled.

Decorating holiday pies is quite simple. You can use both classic offers and decorate them using Christmas cake recipes with photos. It all depends on personal preference.

Winter holidays in Europe and the USA are not complete without sweet pastries, and the famous cupcake has long become a symbol of Christmas in England. Oliver Cromwell never managed to eradicate the tradition of baking cupcakes in the run-up to Christmas. Over time, each country has developed its own holiday sweets, but the English Christmas cake is considered the most delicious dessert!

Interesting facts about Christmas cupcake

English housewives once began preparing Christmas baking a month and a half before the holiday, and there is an explanation for this. The fact is that some ingredients for making the cake - dried apricots, prunes, raisins, dates, cherries, pineapple pieces - are aged in rum, cognac, sherry or Madeira with the addition of spices for about a week. In this case, you need to periodically stir the fruits and berries to evenly soak them. If you follow the technology for preparing cupcakes, you should take 0.5 glasses of alcohol per 0.5 kg of dried fruit.

Then the Christmas dough of eggs, sugar, butter and flour was kneaded and the filling was added. This cake was even baked for several hours at a low temperature, after which it was covered with glaze, decorated with nuts and marzipan. While the cake stood and “waited” for Christmas, it became tastier, softer and more aromatic, while the baked goods did not spoil for a long time due to the alcohol content in it.

How to make a cupcake at home: preparing the filling

Modern housewives do not keep dried fruits in alcohol for so long and do not bake the cake for four hours. Christmas cupcake recipes have been simplified for our convenience, so they require less time, which, fortunately, does not affect their taste at all. So, take 500 g of any dried fruits and dried berries, rinse them well, remove the seeds and cut into small pieces along with fried nuts and candied fruits. Place all the ingredients in a jar, add spices and pour in half a glass of any strong alcohol - you can take liqueur or tincture. It is better to infuse dried fruits for a week, shaking occasionally, but if you don’t have time, mix alcohol with very hot tea and pour the fruits overnight. Thanks to boiling water, the ingredients are soaked instantly, becoming incredibly soft, juicy, aromatic and piquant.

How to make Christmas cake batter

Making muffins at home only seems complicated, but in fact they are prepared quickly, because the dough does not need to rise and rest for a long time. Beat soft butter and sugar until foamy, add eggs, and then flour mixed with soda or baking powder. Some recipes for New Year's cupcakes recommend using only yolks and replacing some of the wheat flour with almond flour. There are recipes where eggs are beaten with sugar until creamy, and butter is mixed with part of the flour, then both mixtures are combined, and the dough is kneaded with the remaining flour. It is important that the eggs are at room temperature, although some housewives do without them altogether. Sometimes confectioners use molasses, honey or dark sugar instead of white sugar, flavoring the cake with nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, lemon or orange zest.

Subtleties of proper baking

The cake pan must first be prepared - grease the bottom and walls with oil, then line it with baking paper, while serious confectioners fasten the joints with a stapler. The paper should extend beyond the edges of the pan so that the cake can be easily removed - after it has cooled, of course.

Because Christmas cake batter is very heavy and moist, bake it at a low temperature to ensure it cooks well and the dried fruit doesn't burn. With a mold height of 5–7 cm, the oven needs 1–3 hours, so the approximate time can be calculated based on the size of the mold, periodically testing the cake for doneness with a wooden stick. Ready time also depends on the density of the dough and the quality of the products. If the top is nicely browned but the cake is not baked, cover it with foil and continue baking.

Never remove the Christmas cake from the tin while it's hot - it needs to cool thoroughly. It is advisable to cover the top with foil during this time. As the cake cools, it will thicken and become more elastic; all you have to do is wrap it in several layers of baking paper and cover it with foil on top. Then the baked goods will be able to “ripen” until Christmas from 1 to 4 weeks, and you can store it in this form for six months at room temperature and a year in the refrigerator, periodically pouring alcohol on it. Every month it becomes more tender and tastier, spreading an incomparable aroma throughout the house, reminiscent of Christmas...

Secrets to making Christmas cupcakes at home

If you want your Christmas baked goods to last longer, add a little honey, jam and molasses to the dough, even if they are not in the recipe: they retain moisture in the cake and are a kind of preservative.

There is one more secret, thanks to which the pieces of filling that are on the outside will not burn in the oven, and the cake will turn out smooth and beautiful - it will be more pleasant to decorate it. After kneading (before adding dried fruits), separate a little dough and spread it into the mold, making the bottom and sides. Next, mix the filling into the remaining dough, place it in the mold, and spread a little dough on top without filling so that the nuts and dried fruits of the top layer do not burn. By the way, many housewives use tall tin cookie boxes for baking - they are ideal for cupcakes. After placing the dough in the mold, make a small depression in the middle, otherwise the cake will rise into a mound during baking and will be difficult to decorate.

If you decide to leave the cake for several months for long-term storage in paper and foil, baste it every three days with alcohol, which acts as a preservative. At the same time, the alcohol will actively evaporate, so the taste of the baked goods will not change, and in order for the cake to be completely soaked, you need to make holes in it with a wooden skewer and pour cognac or brandy into them.

Cupcake decorating is an art

How to serve a Christmas cupcake without decorations? At Christmas, everything should be spectacular and unusual, so English housewives turn baked goods into a work of art, decorating cupcakes with mastic figures. You can do it easier - sprinkle the cupcake with powdered sugar or cover it with regular fondant.

A cupcake with protein glaze turns out very beautiful, for which one chilled egg white is well beaten with a mixer until fluffy foam, and then 0.5–1 cup of powdered sugar is added to it, continuing to beat. When the glaze thickens, pour 1 tsp into it. lemon juice and beat for another half a minute. If you cover a layer of jam with a delicate protein glaze and immediately decorate the cupcake with cake powder, the result will be original and incredibly tasty.