I am sick to death of eating Christmas cake. I know, it's such a hard life. I love to make the cake, it's part of my autumn build up to Christmas, and I like knowing it's in the cupboard, ready and waiting with the jams and chutneys, that's all very satisfying. But it seems like I am the only person who eats it. The kids don't like it. John likes it a little, but not enough to eat a piece every day for a month. And I am rapidly going off it.
I'd take it into work but it contains ground almonds and we're a "nut free" school. I tried to give some to my parents but they have one they are eating. I gave a quarter of it to my sister. But I am still left with loads, it never seems to shrink. I know, it keeps for ages, there's no rush to eat it up, but I want to get rid of it and I don't want to throw it away or feed it to the birds.
So I have been researching uses for leftover Christmas cake and stumbled across many potential ideas:
- Christmas Cake Trifle - a possibility, except I don't like trifle all that much.
- Christmas Cake Pops - I have never made cake pops. They seem like a lot of trouble for not a lot of cake.
- Christmas Cake Bread Pudding - a possibility.
- Christmas Cake French Toast - I think this might be a slightly heavy breakfast?!
- Christmas Cake Ice Cream - stir it into softened vanilla ice cream. Definitely something I can do.
The most appealing was Christmas Cake Brownies which is leftover cake crumbled into brownie mixture then baked. I used my usual brownie recipe which is:
- 190 g butter
- 190 g dark/plain chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g caster sugar
- 110 g plain flour
to which I added 200 g of crumbled Christmas Cake.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Melt together the butter and chocolate. Beat together the eggs, vanilla and sugar in a jug or bowl. Weigh out the flour and Christmas Cake. When the butter and chocolate has melted, add the other ingredients and beat together. Bake for 20-30 minutes depending on how gooey you like the centres to be. I use a 20cm x 20cm pan.
I can report that they are very, very good.
The gooeyness of the chocolate goes so well with the dried fruits and slightly boozy flavour to make a rich but incredibly delicious brownie. I am impressed. They are also amazing reheated for pudding and served with creme fraiche, cream or vanilla ice cream.
The gooeyness of the chocolate goes so well with the dried fruits and slightly boozy flavour to make a rich but incredibly delicious brownie. I am impressed. They are also amazing reheated for pudding and served with creme fraiche, cream or vanilla ice cream.
I still have a little Christmas Cake left, so if anyone has any other ideas on ways I can eat it up I'd love to hear them.
In other news, I'm getting fat.
Ooooooh, Christmas cake brownies sound and look divine. We had the same problem with left over cake this year but from my Mum's 90th birthday celebrations on Boxing Day. My Aunt and Uncle had a very large cake made for her and we are still trying to eat it all up. I am doing Slimming World so it is a no no for me unfortunately. xx
ReplyDeleteHey Gillian,
ReplyDeleteYou could always throw it out..
Leanne x
Oh and cake pops aren't worth the effort x
You're so funny. I could have used some of these recipes a few years ago when I made my first and last Christmas cake. I must have had a bad recipe because it was almost inedible - burnt and bitter-tasting. I love all the things that go into it, though, so I really should try again. The brownies sound interesting...I do love me some brownies.
ReplyDeleteI don't make one for exactly this reason. I love it but I am the only one. I am thinking of tracking down a very small cake tin next year and making a tiny cake just for me! What about freezing the rest in brownie friendly quantities so you can add it to brownies a couple of times over the next few months. Alternatively you can post me a slice 😉
ReplyDeleteI'll give you my address as my greedy husband ate EVERY slice bar one of our cake, the bugger.
ReplyDeleteHa ha!!!
DeleteIs this blog a place for offensive language?
Deleteer, is that anonymous comment for real??!!!
DeleteThe brownies sound like a great idea, and so does the ice cream! You could always freeze it in pieces and then you will have some to add to ice cream as and when you fancy it! Our cake is long gone, we must eat more than you! We do however have a surfeit of Christmas puddings... xx
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious - I'm still eating mine too. As you say - it seems never ending - and it's cream egg season now too!! x
ReplyDeleteThe brownies sound amazing, what a great idea and I like the thought of Christmas cake ice cream too. I always used to make a traditional cake and had the same problem, so I changed tactics and for the last 5 years at least I've made Nigella's 'incredibly easy chocolate fruit cake' which always goes down a treat, finished by New Year or shortly afterwards. Enjoy the rest of your week. Jane xx
ReplyDeleteOhhh the brownies sound delicious. I shall give the recipe a try with our left over cake, which I keep moving from cupboard to cupboard in an attempt to lose it. The Christmas cake ice cream is lovely and definitely worth a try.
ReplyDeleteLifes too short ......... chuck the Christmas cake and make a tiny one next year in a mini baked bean tin : )
ReplyDeleteThe brownies do sound amazing, though.
I must confess when no one was looking I fed the mince pies to the birds. I dont like them and I bought 2 boxes incase of visitors and only 2 people who came ate them. THe birds loved them! lol Your not alone
ReplyDeleteLovely brownies...when you've had enough, I'm sure the birds would relish your crumbs?
ReplyDeleteIf we had any Christmas cake left I'd definitely try these brownies - they sound fantastic. But ours disappeared weeks ago (and I'm working on reducing the effects on my body!). X
ReplyDeleteFabulous idea, the brownies sound delicious. Mine lasted forever last year as well, so I didn't bother making one this year. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really delicious!
ReplyDeleteI would be in the same position as you, had I not thrown away the uneaten half of our christmas cake half way through January. Like you, I love making it, and I really enjoy eating it too, but after the festive season, if there's any left, I feed it to the birds and refuse to feel guilty about it. Those brownies look pretty amazing x
ReplyDeleteYou are a cake connoisseur Gillian. I made Nigel's marmalade cake at the weekend thanks to your recommendation and very delicious it is too. It is amazing what you can add to a basic brownie mix. I discovered beetroot brownies last autumn when I was looking for ways to use up a bumper beetroot harvest - they were so good. I don't make Christmas cake anymore. Instead I make a Dundee cake a couple of days before Christmas which hits the spot and is all gone by New Year.
ReplyDeletebrownies...still looks like Christmas cake to me....sorry. ( why do you make one if there is only you to eat it ?) Its not cheap. Oh chuck it out and make something that all of you can eat, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI love your last sentence!
ReplyDeleteYou are brilliant with that tasty idea.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Meredith
Sounds decadently wonderful!
ReplyDeleteChristmas cake brownies sound lovely, as does Christmas cake ice cream. If you've really had enough though, I think I'd give the birds a winter treat! xx
ReplyDeleteWe don't have any leftovers (cookies or otherwise) from Christmas, but then we don't make all that much. That is to say, I don't make anything at all - my Mum makes cookies, and a family friend used to be a baker. He makes the most wonderful cookies and cakes, and distributes them to his closest friends (which includes us). They are so good we nearly fight over them :-)
ReplyDeleteThrowing food away is something I avoid as much as possible (for ethical reasons), and so I understand you don't want to do that. The best solution is not to do the same next Christmas season... just make a tiny one, if nobody else in your household likes it :-)
I wish i had some leftover cake now, that brownie looks amazing
ReplyDeleteBrownies? What a great idea. I made half the recipe this year and made two smaller cakes. I put one in the freezer. I am the only one who eats it too. I have eaten a 9" Christmas cake for the last two years and I thought it was time to stop. I have an ice cream maker so I would make Christmas cake ice-cream. Jo x
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read about Christmas cakes that are still being eated in February! We don't have those cakes in Austria, what do they constist of that makes them eatable for so long?
ReplyDeleteI gave half our Christmas cake away, a quarter each to our two sons and their partners, but we still managed to eat the rest of it by New Year! It's too delicious not to eat it up quickly! We love Christmas cake, husband is even mithering on about making one just for us regardless of it not being Christmas! I use a Cordon Bleu recipe from the part-work from around about 1968 and have made it every Christmas since, and I also make my own almond paste (marzipan to some people, but almond paste is what I call it and what my mother called it and what it is called in the recipe) and royal icing (but which doesn't set really hard, but it's certainly superior to that roll on stuff you buy in a packet in the supermarket.) Not a scrap left by New Year - I think that speaks for itself what a good recipe it is.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
PS What on earth are 'pops'?
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
What a fantastic idea, it sounds delicious and I am not a fruit cake lover! Hubby is the only here that eats Christmas cake so I just buy a small slab and make a small Madeira cake as well and Josh decorates them for me.
ReplyDeleteI think you chose the best option, they look and sound delicious. I hope the other members of your family are helping out with the eating of these.
ReplyDeleteWill you make a smaller cake this year, or keep to the same size so you can have these brownies in January and create a new tradition.
Lisa x
sounds yummy, but I've never had a problem with cake not being eaten here, everyone loves it, in fact the teenagers cut huge slabs given half the chance, so it never lasts anytime at all.......
ReplyDeleteThat looks like my kind of dessert! I'd go for the Christmas pud ice cream, too - although I don't make Christmas cake here. I do like stollen and panettone but I don't make those either!
ReplyDeleteOh, and you're not alone - my favourite jeans are actually painful to wear :(
I hear you, as I have the same problem. I love to make it every Autumn and I love to eat it but after a while it all gets a bit much. I have reduced my recipe by 3/4 to make a smaller cake but I think this year I might even reduce it by half so I have a much smaller cake altogether... Your brownies look amazing though. Who can't love chocolate and boozy fruit ?! x
ReplyDeleteThis put me in the brownie-making mood:). Yours look delicious. I never have a problem of too much cake, everything disappears in a blink of an eye. We don't have anything similar to Christmas cake, is it extremely rich or maybe made very huge?
ReplyDeleteIt would also probably work well crumbled and mixed into an american pancake mix.
ReplyDeleteI love your way of thinking! Those brownies seem and sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to try this brownie recipe but we don't have any leftover Christmas cake to use :-( I think the Christmas cake ice cream will be great too. Enjoy!!x
ReplyDeleteClever ideas to use up the christmas cake! We don't have such cakes here in Germany, in fact I never heard of them before.
ReplyDeleteTake care
Anne
Crochet Between Worlds
for those of us who do not have a Christmas cake recipe, should we google it for one?
ReplyDeleteI make a cake purely for traditional reasons but nobody eats it.( I swear I'll use a cardboard model on the tea table one year lol) but I love to bake one so I'll probably just make a tiny one this year. I'm In the process of feeding it to the neighbours with morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of the Christmas cake brownies. If there's still cake left here (which I'd be surprised if there isn't!) I'll have a go at this next weekend. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
ReplyDelete