As well as toffee and parkin, for many, Bonfire Night means the start of the countdown to Christmas as it's traditionally the day that the Christmas Cake is made to give it time to mature.
Now although here at thebestof Newmarket can't profess to being quite that organised, we do like to share these little quirks and foibles that set us Brits apart!
Here's a Christmas Cake recipe that is sure to be demolished before the Queen's Speech...
Here's what you will need:
Starting the night before, mix the dried fruit and candied peel in with three tablespoons of brandy and cover overnight.
Make sure you have everything in place for the next day, and then prepare an eight inch greased and lined tin with a further layer of parchment on the oputside, and set the oven to pre-heat at gas mark 1 (275F / 140C).
Beat the eggs and set aside and whisk the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Then add the eggs slowly, whisking as you do.
Next sieve the flour, spices and salt into another bowl and then fold (don't whisk) these dry ingredients into the mixture before adding the soaked fruit, chopped nuts, treacle and finally the zests of the orange and lemon.
Place the mixture in the tin and if you are not planning to ice the cake, top it with some chopped almonds. Then cover with a circle of baking parchment with a hole the size of a 50p in the middle.
Bake for at least four and a half hours on the bottom shelf. Check after about four hours and extend cooking time accordingly. Place on a wire rack to cool and using a skewer make holes in the top and bottom.
Use these holes to 'feed' the cake with brandy and wrap in greaseproof paper, and store in an airtight container.
You might want to 'feed' it with more brandy a couple of times before Christmas.
