Boozy Christmas Cake — recipe by Nancy O'Sullivan
Medium
Public

Boozy Christmas Cake

by Nancy O'Sullivan • 1971

Prep

30m

Cook

240m

Serves

16

Rating

5.0

Ingredients

Shopping list

  • 1 kg Mixed dried fruit

  • 150 ml Irish whiskey

  • 250 g Unsalted butter, soft

  • 250 g Dark muscovado sugar

  • 5 Eggs, large

  • 280 g Plain flour

  • 2 tsp Mixed spice

  • 1 Orange, zested

Instructions

Step by step

  1. 1

    Soak the dried fruit in half the whiskey overnight (longer is better).

  2. 2

    Cream the butter and sugar until pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

  3. 3

    Fold in the flour, spice and orange zest, then the soaked fruit.

  4. 4

    Tip into a lined 20cm tin and bake at 140°C fan (300°F) for 3.5-4 hours until a skewer comes out clean.

  5. 5

    Cool fully, then prick all over with a skewer and feed with a tablespoon of whiskey weekly for six weeks.

  6. 6

    Wrap in greaseproof paper and foil between feedings. Slice on Christmas Eve.

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Cook's annotations

Katie Miles · 6/24/2026

Ggggg

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Admin edit 2026-06-25

Edited 6/25/2026, 9:11:18 AM

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