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Orla’s Traditional Christmas Cake

2 ½ - 4 hrs Cook
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Orla’s tried-and-tested Christmas Cake recipe has been part of her family’s Christmas tradition for years — and it’s become a firm favourite among friends too.

And the best part? You don’t need to gather dozens of different ingredients — all you need is one pack of Gem Christmas Cake Fruit Mix and one pack of Gem Christmas Pudding Mix. It saves money, time, and hassle, while still giving you that rich traditional flavour.

This batch makes enough for two 20 cm / 8-inch cakes.

Do you use alcohol? Get soaking now and let the flavours deepen.
Going alcohol-free? Simply wait and mix your fruit with juice one week before baking the cake.

A little patience now means unforgettable cake later — let’s get baking!

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Orla's Traditional Christmas Cake

Orla's Traditional Christmas Cake

agnesgempackfoods-ie
prep time
30 mins
cooking time
2 ½ - 4 hrs
servings
2 cakes (20-30 slices each)
total time
3-4 ½ hrs

Equipment

  • weighing scales

  • large airtight container

  • scissors

Ingredients

  • 1 bag/970g Gem Christmas Cake Fruit Mix

  • 1 bag/640g Gem Christmas Pudding Fruit Mix

  • 350g Gem Soft Dark Brown Sugar

  • 250 ml alcohol of choice (Brandy, Whiskey, Rum)

  • OR 250 ml orange juice

  • 200g Gem nibbed almonds

  • Zest of 2 lemons

  • Zest of 1 orange

  • 350g very soft butter

  • 450g Gem plain flour

  • 1tbsp mixed spice

  • 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

  • 100g Gem ground almonds

  • 6 large or 7 medium eggs

Instructions

1
Soak your fruit and sugar for a month ahead of time. If you don’t get a chance to do this you can boil the fruit in the alcohol the night before - take it off the heat as soon as the mix reaches boiling point - and allow it to cool fully. Store in an airtight container until needed.
2
To make the cake add the fruit, sugar and alcohol mix to a large mixing bowl.
3
Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed above - so almonds, then the zest of 2 lemons and an orange.
Make sure the butter is very soft so it can mix easily with the rest of the ingredients.
Add the flour and the spices, and the ground almonds and stir well.
Finally add the eggs then stir the mix until it all comes together fully.
4
Pour this mix into the two baking tins that are lined with parchment. These then need to be dropped a few times so that there are no air bubbles in the cake mix.
5
Bake the 6 inch/15 cm round cakes for between 2.5 - 3 hours or the 10 inch /25m cake for between 3 to 4 hours.
A skewer coming out clean will tell you it is done.
If the top is browning too quickly you can cover with a piece of foil.

Notes

This is a double batch, makes two 24-30 slice cakes.
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