Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake recipe is a rich fruit cake that is simple to make and packed full of traditional Christmas flavours. Great British Bake Off Judge, Paul Hollywood, provides the expert instructions for this special holiday treat.

Who is Paul Hollywood?

Paul Hollywood is a baker and a judge on The Great British Bake-Off on UK television. He is best known for baking bread so when I received his book ‘How to Bake’ to review, I was surprised and delighted to see that there are also recipes for other types of bakes.

How to Bake by Paul Hollywood

In this review, I take you through each of the chapters in the book to give you a clear idea of what to expect in terms of technique and the recipes that are included.

Getting started with Bread

This is a great way to start, this chapter is a comprehensive guide to baking bread.

The chapter covers everything from different types of flour, through techniques and tools. It includes step by step pictures as well as written instructions.

Basic Breads

In this chapter, I learned how to make white and wholemeal loaves in different shapes and variations.

As well as classic bread recipes there are recipes for soda bread, flatbreads, Italian bread, and even crumpets.

Flavoured Breads

I love to add savoury and sweet ingredients into bread dough, but it can be tricky to get it right. I’m sure we have all seen that on Bake Off!

I really liked the recipes for breadsticks, Coriander, olive and onion bread, Bacon and Cheddar loaves, Pecan loaf, and Hot Cross Buns.

Sourdough Bread

I’ve never actually made sourdough bread, although I love to eat it. Paul Hollywood takes us through all the steps and makes it sound achievable.

As well as a recipe and technique for basic sourdough bread, I liked the variety of sourdough recipes. There are recipes such as Sour olive bread, Muesli and banana sourdough, and Lavender honey and toasted almond sourdough.

So many tempting flavours, it makes me really want to try all of the recipes!

Croissants, Danish & Brioche

This chapter takes us into the realm of sweetened yeasted dough, there is a lot of technique involved in making these sweet breads and they can be time-consuming.

If you are worried about technique there is a double-page spread of photographs showing how to make the croissant dough, they are clear and easy to follow.

Biscuits, Puddings and Cakes

Now we come to the chapter which surprised me, however it’s clear that these recipes are just as important to Paul as the bread. recipes

I wanted to bake all the sweet and savoury biscuits, strudels, Baklava, crumble, soufflé, cheesecake, chocolate cake, muffins, brownies, Buche de Noel and, of course, Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake.

Tarts and Pies

If you’ve seen the Great British Bake-off, you will know that pies are something Paul is passionate about. In this chapter Paul demystifies pastry making with recipes and techniques for different types of pastry and recipes for everything from Lemon meringue pie to hot water crust pork pies.

Who is it for?

How to Bake is a book for anyone who wants to bake, whether you want to learn how to make bread for the first time, to extend your repertoire or challenge yourself to try something new.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

I loved the step by step photographs and there is also a photo of every recipe. I like to know what I’m aiming for. The introductions to each chapter make you feel that you are really getting the benefit of Paul Hollywood’s years of experience

Cons:

It’s a big book and quite heavy, but that is a very little ‘con’ and only relevant if you are trying to read it in bed!

Ease of use

The instructions are easy to follow, there is quite a lot to read at the start of each chapter and it’s worth reading this through before diving into the recipes.

Worth buying?

I recommend this book, it is well thought out with techniques explained clearly in words and pictures, definitely worth buying.

How to Bake by Paul Hollywood is published by Bloomsbury RRP £20, Popular On line Retailer £8.86

Baking Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake

I like to test each review book and make a recipe. As I hadn’t yet made my Christmas cake, I decided to try Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake recipe.

What is Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake like?

The recipe is easy to follow and turned out well. It is full of different types of dried fruit and includes dried apricots and glace pineapple and prunes. I really liked the chunky pieces of almond which gave the fruit cake texture.

The cake is much lighter in colour than the one I usually make. However, it is moist and very delicious. I had some cake mixture leftover and was able to bake a bonus cake in a small loaf tin.

This meant it was easy to try the cake without cutting into the larger cake I am keeping for Christmas. The cake cuts very well and holds together. The texture of the cake is quite dense but moist and not overly sweet.

I am a bit fan of apricots as you will know if you have made my Apricot Tea Bread recipe. I also love prunes which add a really rich flavour to the cake, if you like prunes then try my Chocolate Prune & Walnut Cake.

More Christmas Cake Recipes from Farmersgirl Kitchen

Last Minute Whisky Marmalade Christmas Cake is light and fruity rather than the rich dark fruit cake that is traditionally baked for Christmas and you can make it and eat it straight away without waiting for it to mature.

Christmas Fruit Cake is a traditional bake for the festive season in the UK. This step by step recipe produces a darker Christmas Cake and is an easy bake even if you have little experience.

Homemade Marzipan Stollen is a delicious semi-sweet bread studded with dried fruits and nuts and filled with marzipan. It is a traditional Christmas holiday bread from Germany and this festive loaf has a long and interesting history and it is simple to make

More Christmas Cake Recipes

Tin Can Mini Christmas Cakes – Eats Amazing

Pumpkin Fruit Cake – Fab Food 4 All

Rosca de Reyes, Spanish Epiphany Cake – Fuss Free Flavour

Paul Hollywood’s Christmas Cake

Paul Hollywood

This is a classic, richly fruited Christmas cake – deliciously moist and substantial. It tastes wonderful just as it is, but of course the addition of marzipan and snowy white icing make it much more festive and spectacular. You can either make your own marzipan, or use a good-quality bought one. The same goes for the icing.

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Course Baking

Cuisine British

Servings slices

Ingredients

450 g sultanas
225 g raisins
225 g dried apricots chopped
115 g prunes chopped
55 g glacé pineapple
225 g glacé cherries chopped
225 g chopped candied peel
115 g blanched almonds toasted and very roughly chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
70 ml brandy
225 g unsalted butter softened
200 g light muscovado sugar
5 large eggs
280 g plain flour
To finish
2 tbsp apricot jam
500 g quantity marzipan see page 255, or a 500g packet ready made marzipan
Icing sugar for dusting
500 g quantity royal icing see page 255, or a 500g packet ready-to-roll fondant icing

Instructions

Combine all the dried and glacé fruit, candied peel and almonds in a large bowl. Add the orange zest and juice, and the brandy. Mix well,cover and leave for several hours or overnight.
Heat your oven to 150˚C. Line the base and sides of a 20cm round deep cake tin with a double thickness of baking parchment, cutting it so that it stands a good 5cm proud of the top of the tin.
In a very large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little of the flour with each to prevent the mixture from splitting.
Stir in the fruit mixture. Sift the remaining flour over the mixture and fold in, using a large metal spoon. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 3 hours, then check by insert a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. If not, give it a further 15–30 minutes. Leave the cake to cool before removing it from the tin.

To marizpan your cake

When your cake is completely cooled – and ideally after a couple of days – you can marzipan and ice it. Warm the apricot jam gently in a saucepan with a splash of water to thin it down, sieve, then brush all over the cake.
Roll out 300g of the marzipan to a large circle, about 4mm thick. Using the cake tin as a guide, cut a round of marzipan to fit the top of the cake and position it.
Roll out the other 200g marzipan with the trimmings and cut 2 long strips to fit around the side of the cake. Position these, then smooth the marzipan and mould the edges together.
If you are using ready-to-roll icing, roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar to a thickness of about 5mm. Lift it over the marzipan, smooth down and trim off the excess at the base.
If you are using homemade royal icing, smooth it over the cake with a palette knife. You can leave it smooth or swirl it into peaks with the back of a spoon or your palette knife, as you choose. Leave to set.
Wrap a ribbon around the side of your Christmas cake and finish as you wish with festive decorations.

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Comments

belleau kitchen says

November 7, 2012 at 8:13 am

Excellent review and lovely cake. I like that it looks lighter and paler than traditional Christmas cake which I find too rich. Must have been the most incredible aroma in the kitchen.
Jacqueline says

November 9, 2012 at 4:59 pm

It's a great book. I have only had a read of it so far and haven't tried a recipe yet.I don't seem to have had the time. Your cake looks good. Are you going to keep it for Christmas and feed it alcohol?
Milo Cakecraft says

November 13, 2012 at 2:07 pm

Great post Janet, can see many people this Christmas looking at what Paul Hollywood has to offer!

Hayley x
HelenJ says

November 16, 2012 at 6:11 pm

Loving this book! The cherry and chocolate muffins are easy and delicious. Mixed up the fruit for this cake last night and was a bit doubtful about the lack of treacle and spices in the recipe, so greatly appreciated your comments and the photo of the finished cake slice – very useful! Definitely going to give it a go and, in fact, it might make a really nice change from the usual round of Christmas sweet things that all end up tasting the same!
Janice says

November 16, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Glad you found my post useful, Helen. It is a lovely cake, but as you say not the usual Christmas Cake you expect!
Adela Bell says

September 26, 2013 at 7:04 pm

Hi, can I bake this in advance?. If so can I add alcohol and how would I store it. My first time baking this Christmas Cake.
Janice Pattie says

September 26, 2013 at 7:29 pm

Hi Adela
Yes, do make it in advance wrap in baking parchment and then foil and you can 'feed' your cake with alcohol by pricking it with a skewer and pouring over some whisky, brandy or rum. You can repeat this every two weeks until you want to eat the cake. If you want to add alcohol at the baking stage I would suggest you soak your fruits overnight in alcohol, they should soak it up and you can then use the fruit. As per the recipe. Hope you enjoy the cake.