In short
A rich fruit cake wants exactly what an Aga has: hours of low, steady heat from every side. In a conventional oven a Christmas cake needs watching, foil over the top and a tray of water underneath. In an Aga simmering oven it looks after itself. Bake it in the first half of November, feed it through the month, and it will be dark, moist and deep in flavour by Christmas Day. Here is our recipe and method for every model.
The recipe (20 cm round or 18 cm square tin)
Fruit, soaked the night before
- 1 kg mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, chopped apricots or prunes)
- 100 g glacé cherries, halved
- 75 g mixed peel
- Zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- 150 ml brandy (or rum, whisky, or cold tea for a cake without alcohol)
Cake
- 250 g unsalted butter, soft
- 250 g dark muscovado sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon black treacle
- 275 g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 100 g ground almonds
- 100 g whole blanched almonds or walnuts, roughly chopped
Put all the fruit, peel, zest, juice and brandy in a bowl, cover, and leave overnight. The fruit swells and the cake stays moist.
Prepare the tin
This matters more in an Aga than anywhere else, because the cake is in the oven for most of a day:
- Grease the tin and line the base and sides with a double layer of baking parchment that stands 5 cm above the rim.
- Tie a double thickness of brown paper or newspaper around the outside of the tin with string.
- Put a folded newspaper or a thick wad of parchment on the oven shelf or the grid shelf under the tin.
Make the mixture
- Beat the butter and sugar until light. This takes a few minutes with a mixer; the sugar is dark and heavy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour after each to stop the mix curdling. Beat in the treacle.
- Sift in the rest of the flour and the spices, add the ground almonds, and fold together.
- Fold in the soaked fruit with any liquid left in the bowl, and the nuts.
- Spoon into the tin, level the top, and make a shallow dip in the centre so the cake rises flat.
Which oven, on which Aga
2-oven Aga
Put the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners in the roasting oven, and the cake on the floor of the roasting oven beneath it. Give it 20 minutes to set the top, no longer. Then move the cake to the floor of the simmering oven and leave it for 6 to 8 hours.
3-oven and 4-oven Aga
Bake on the grid shelf on the floor of the baking oven (140°C to 180°C) for 1 hour, then transfer to the simmering oven for 4 to 6 hours.
Converted electric Aga
The same ovens, the same method. With an ElectricKit or eControl conversion you can run the simmering oven on its own for the long bake, which costs very little. Our Aga oven temperature guide sets out the temperature of each oven.
Is it done?
Start testing after 5 hours on a 2-oven model, or 4 hours on a 3-oven or 4-oven. The cake is ready when:
- a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean, with no wet mixture;
- the top is dark brown and firm and the cake has shrunk a fraction from the sides of the tin;
- it is quiet: a cake that is still cooking makes a faint bubbling sound when you hold it to your ear.
If the centre is still wet after 8 hours, leave it another hour. It cannot overbake in the simmering oven, and that is the whole point of the method. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
Feeding the cake
Once cold, pierce the top a dozen times with a skewer and spoon over two tablespoons of brandy. Wrap the cake in its parchment, then in foil, and keep it in a tin somewhere cool. Feed it once a week with one to two tablespoons until a week before you decorate it. A cake fed four or five times has a depth of flavour that no shop cake matches; one fed every day is simply wet.
The calendar
- First or second week of November: bake.
- Every week until mid December: feed.
- A week before Christmas: brush with warmed apricot jam and cover with marzipan. Leave uncovered for two or three days to dry.
- Three or four days before: royal icing or fondant.
- Christmas Day: cut with a long sharp knife, and keep it wrapped between slices. It lasts well into January.
Mistakes to avoid
- Baking it in the roasting oven. It will be black outside and raw in the middle. Twenty minutes to set the top is the limit, and only with the cold shelf above.
- A single layer of parchment. The edges dry and harden over a long bake.
- Opening the simmering oven to look. Nothing is happening that needs you. Test with a skewer at the times above and otherwise leave it.
- Feeding too late. Brandy spooned on the day before icing stays on the surface and softens the marzipan.
- A cooker that is under temperature. If the cake takes far longer than the times here, the Aga as a whole is probably running cool, which usually means it is due a service.
Frequently asked questions
Which Aga oven do you bake a Christmas cake in?
The simmering oven, at 110°C to 120°C, for most of the time. On a 2-oven Aga, start the cake on the floor of the roasting oven with the cold shelf above it for 20 minutes, then move it to the simmering oven for 6 to 8 hours. On a 3-oven or 4-oven Aga, bake it in the baking oven for the first hour, then finish in the simmering oven for 4 to 6 hours.
How long does a Christmas cake take in an Aga?
Between 5 and 9 hours in total, depending on the model and the size of the tin. A 20 cm round cake usually takes 6 to 8 hours in the simmering oven after its start in a hotter oven. It is done when a skewer comes out clean and the cake has shrunk slightly from the tin.
When should I bake a Christmas cake?
Early to mid November, so it has four to six weeks to mature and be fed. A cake baked in the first week of November, fed weekly, marzipanned a week before Christmas and iced a few days before, is at its best on the day.
How do I stop a Christmas cake burning in an Aga?
Line the tin with a double layer of baking parchment, tie a collar of brown paper or newspaper around the outside, and keep the cake in the simmering oven where it cannot catch. Never leave it in the roasting oven for more than the first 20 minutes, and use the cold shelf above it for that.
How do I feed a Christmas cake?
Once a week, pierce the top of the cake a few times with a skewer and spoon over one to two tablespoons of brandy, rum or whisky, then wrap it again in parchment and foil. Stop feeding a week before you marzipan it, so the surface is dry enough to take the paste.
Can I bake a Christmas cake in a converted electric Aga?
Yes. An ElectricKit or eControl conversion keeps the same ovens, and you can run the simmering oven on its own for the long bake without heating the rest of the cooker.
Baking for Christmas on an Aga that needs attention?
If your simmering oven is running cool or your cooker is due a service before the busiest cooking month of the year, we can help across Yorkshire, Cumbria and the North East. Our guide to the Aga simmering oven covers what else it does well. Call 01748 811030 or request a callback below.