THE PERRY FAMILY CHRISTMAS CAKE

By Jazmine Perry

It’s 1968, Lucknow, India; the Christmas tree is up, and the radio is playing White Christmas by Bing Crosby. Grandma Jesse is preparing to serve her Christmas cake, and your mum is setting up the table. The nostalgic aroma of Christmas fills the busy house as fruit, nuts, and brandy fill your soul with joy. Grandma Jesse’s Christmas cake is something you wait all year for, and it’s a tradition you keep for years to come …

The Perry Family Christmas cake dates back to the late 19th century and has been passed down from my great-grandmother Jesse (Nee Staples) McAuliffe to my father, who has kept the recipe for decades and brought it to Melbourne, Australia in the 1970s. Grandma Jesse was known for her Christmas cake; she made batches for the whole community in Lucknow from a bakery with my Nana Phyllis. It is still a Christmas heirloom that reminds us of all of our roots and the people we love most.

Now we share this love that great-grandma Jesse shared with us.

What you’ll need:

• A mixer (hand mixer or stand mixer)

• Baking tin

• Parchment paper

• Measuring cups

• Scales

Ingredients:

• ⅓ cup of unsalted butter

• 1 cup of cherries

• ⅓ cup of pineapple

• ¼ cup of ginger

• 1⅓ cups of sultanas

• ⅓ cup of cashews

• 20g of almond meal

• 20g of slivered almonds

• ½ cup of sugar

• 30g of semolina

• ⅔ cup of self-raising flour

• ⅓ cup of egg yolks

• ⅓ cup of egg whites

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

• 3g of mixed spices

• 1 tbsp of cardamom

• 1 tbsp of nutmeg

• 1 tbsp of cinnamon

Preparation:

• Mix all fruit with 50 ml of brandy (any kind) overnight in the fridge.

Assembly:

1. Add the butter into the bowl and in the mixer cream the butter first on high; whisk for 10 mins.

2. Add sugar and spices together; whisk on high for 10 mins.

3. Add flour and semolina and potassium on slow; once the flour and semolina can’t be seen, whisk on high for another 5 mins.

4. Add fruit, vanilla essence and almond meal on slow, and then high whisk for 5 mins.

5. Add the brandy-soaked nuts from the night before and almond meal. Slow whisk for 5 mins.

6. Preheat your oven to 160 degrees fan forced.

7. Add egg yolks on slow, high whisk for 5 mins.

8. Add egg whites on slow, high whisk for 5 mins.

9. Put the cake mixture in a baking tin lined with baking parchment paper.

10. Put the cake in the oven at 160 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

11. Wait for 20 minutes for the cake to cool.

You can serve the Christmas cake nice and hot, with ice cream or even custard.