Recipes: Christmas Food from Around the World
Guyanese black cake (pictured above)
A traditional Christmas treat in Guyana, black cake is rich and moist. If you can, make it in the first week of November, so there's time for the flavours to develop.Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 45 minutes - 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 5 minutes - 2 hours 20 minutes
Serves: 20
Ingredients
700g essential Waitrose Mixed Fruit
50g Cooks' Ingredients Mixed Peel
100g Waitrose LOVE Life Brazil Nuts or Waitrose LOVE Life Roasted Peanuts
300ml dark rum, plus extra for feeding the cake
225g butter
225g Demerara sugar
6 large eggs
5-6 tbsp black treacle
225g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp mixed spice, or more to taste
Method
Place the mixed fruit, mixed peel and nuts in a food processor and blitz until evenly processed. Place in a bowl and pour over 150ml of the rum, cover and set aside to soak overnight or in the fridge for up to a week, stirring occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 150°C, gas mark 2. Grease and double line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in colour. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between additions. Tip in the soaked fruit and nuts with the soaking liquid and stir well. Stir in the black treacle to make the cake as dark as you wish.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and mixed spice and gently fold it into the mixture a tablespoon at a time. Continue until you have a soft dropping consistency, adding more rum as required. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1¾-2 hours, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
While the cake is still warm, make holes all over the top of the cake with a skewer then drizzle over the remaining rum. Allow to cool completely, then wrap in several layers of greaseproof paper. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, 'feed' the cake occasionally by drizzling over more rum.
The cake can be iced in the traditional British way, or given a thick layer of marzipan with dried tropical fruits and nuts arranged on top and glazed with apricot glaze, in the traditional Guyanese way.
Cranberry & limoncello semifreddo
This stunning dessert is perfect for Christmas entertaining as it can be made up to 1 month in advance and kept in the freezer.Preparation time: 15 minutes. plus cooling and freezing
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes, plus cooling and freezing
Serves: 8
Ingredients
300g fresh cranberries
125g caster sugar
250g tub mascarpone
300ml Waitrose Seriously Creamy Madagascan Vanilla Custard
3-4 tbsp Limoncello liqueur (optional)
4 tbsp Waitrose Seriously Zesty Lemon Curd
½ Waitrose Madeira Loaf Cake
2 tbsp pistachios, chopped
Method
Place the cranberries in a small pan with 100ml cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes until the berries soften and become pulpy. Stir in the sugar and continue to stir until it has dissolved. Simmer for a further 4-5 minutes until the mixture has thickened, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Line a 1kg loaf tin with clingfilm or a strip of baking parchment that covers the base and extends up the long sides. In a bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and custard, then whisk in the limoncello (if using) and 3 tbsp of the lemon curd.
Spoon three quarters of the creamy mixture into the prepared loaf tin, then spread over the cooled fruit. Top with the remaining creamy mixture, then use a skewer to swirl and marble the cranberry mixture through the creamy layer. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
Thinly slice the Madeira cake and spread with the remaining lemon curd. Arrange the slices, curd side down, over the top of the final layer. Freeze for 5-6 hours, or overnight.
Remove from the freezer, dip the tin briefly into a tray of hot water and then turn the semifreddo out onto a board or serving plate. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes, then scatter with the chopped pistachios and serve cut into slices.
Italian Certosino
Also known as panspeziale, this is Bologna's own Christmas cake. It is lighter and more scented than British festive cakes, and boasts a generous helping of diced chocolate. The flavour improves with keeping, so the candied fruit finish is best added shortly before cutting into the cake.Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus soaking
Cooking time: 75 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Serves: 18 - 20
Ingredients
150g raisins
3 tbsp Marsala wine
60g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
180g plain chocolate
130g mixed candied peel
400g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
350g eating apples, peeled, cored and grated
150g clear honey
200g caster sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed finely
150g whole candied fruit, chopped
100g blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
100g pine nuts
4 tbsp apricot jam
Method
Soak the raisins in the Marsala, cover with clingfilm and leave for at least half an hour, though 1–2 days would be even better. Preheat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3 and grease a 24cm springform cake tin with butter.
Put the chocolate and candied peel in the bowl of a processor and chop until reduced to a rough, slightly knobbly mixture. Sift the flour and the baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the grated apples.
Heat the honey gently with the sugar, butter and spices. Once blended together (don't let it boil), pour over the apples and flour and mix to a smooth batter. Stir in the chopped chocolate and candied peel, the raisins with the Marsala, the candied fruit, the almonds and the pine nuts.
Scrape the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1–1 ¼ hours until just firm – test by plunging a skewer into the heart of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then take out of the tin to cool completely. Wrap in greaseproof paper, then in foil to store for up to a month.
To finish, warm the apricot jam gently in a pan. Brush half over the top of the cake, then decorate with the fruit and nuts. Brush over the remaining jam.
Drinks recommendation
This rich cake calls for a delicate wine.