Mary Berry Small Christmas Cake 6 Inch Recipe

Mary Berry's small 6 inch Christmas cake is a rich, dark, brandy-fed fruit cake that is perfectly sized for a small household — with all the depth of the full-sized version.

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Prep Time 25

Cook Time 2 30

Total Time 2 55

Servings: 6 Slices

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Calories: 520

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Fruit Soak Night Before:
500 g mixed dried fruit
50 g dried cranberries
50 g mixed peel
50 g glacé cherries halved and rinsed
75 ml brandy or dark rum — plus more for weekly feeding
Cake:
125 g unsalted butter softened
125 g dark muscovado sugar
½ tbsp black treacle
3 large eggs beaten
125 g plain flour sifted
½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp mixed spice, ¼ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
25 g ground almonds
40 g blanched almonds roughly chopped
Zest of ½ unwaxed orange and ½ unwaxed lemon

Method

Soak all fruit in brandy overnight — cover tightly.
Preheat oven to 140°C / 120°C fan / Gas 1. Line a deep 6 inch tin with double parchment — sides 5cm above the rim. Wrap outside in double brown paper.
Beat butter, muscovado, and treacle 3–4 minutes. Add eggs gradually — add tbsp flour if curdling threatens.
Sift in flour, spices, and bicarbonate of soda. Add ground almonds, chopped almonds, and citrus zests — fold gently. Add all soaked fruit and liquid — fold through completely.
Spoon into tin. Smooth. Make a slight hollow in the centre. Bake 2 hours – 2 hours 30 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
Cool completely. Remove from tin — keep parchment on. Pierce base 10–15 times. Feed with 1 tbsp brandy. Wrap tightly in cling film then foil. Feed weekly until Christmas.

Notes

Soak fruit overnight — 24 hours gives an even more deeply flavoured result.

Brown paper wrapping is essential — prevents the edges overcooking during the long bake.

Make a hollow in the centre — gives a flatter top for marzipan and icing.

Feed from the base through holes — brandy distributes more evenly through the cake.

Make as early as possible — weekly feeding over 8 to 10 weeks makes it genuinely extraordinary.

Keeps wrapped for 4 months. Freezes un-iced for 6 months.