Neven Maguire: good quality ingredients will make all the difference to the taste

What could be more festive and reassuringly homely than the smell of cooking Christmas cake and pudding filling the house? Not wishing to add any pressure to what already is a fraught time of year, if you want to make your own cake and pudding, you need to do it now so that it's deliciously mature in time for 25 December. While shop-bought versions are the easy option, signs are that more people will be attempting to cook their own this year.


At a recent Bord Bia industry day, a survey of Irish, Northern Irish and British food trends revealed that cooking from scratch is back on Irish menus and at least one if five is now entertaining at home.


Obviously making your own cake and pud is a lot cheaper than buying them but reasons for getting out the mixing bowl go far beyond frugality – there's the feel-good factor as well as the comfort of knowing exactly what's gone into them.


"There's a big swing back towards home-baking and there's a huge sense of achievement in making your own cake," says Odlums' resident home-baking expert, Catherine Leyden, who has cooked thousands of Christmas cakes throughout the course of her career, "but it is very important to use recipes that actually work."


Celebrity chef Neven Maguire says that while he likes Christmas cake, pudding is what he adores. His aunt Maureen, a retired home economics teacher, whose recipe is printed here, supplies the puddings for his restaurant, MacNean's in Blacklion, Co Cavan, something Maguire says he doesn't take for granted.


"First of all, go out and source really good-quality ingredients – you can definitely taste the difference. Make it well ahead, you need to make it in the next couple of weeks. We steam ours in the oven because it means less steam in the kitchen. Don't forget to keep it topped up with water. Make sure it's cooked correctly and the storing of it is important. Let it cool down, wrap it in greaseproof paper and then in tinfoil and keep it in a cool dry place," are his guidelines.


Traditional Christmas Cake


Makes a 20cm round cake
250g sultanas
100g currants
400g raisins
75g mixed peel
165g glacé cherries
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (lemon)
80ml sherry
175g butter (room temperature)
175 g dark brown Muscovado sugar
25g black treacle
3 medium eggs, beaten (room temperature)
220g plain white flour
4g mixed spice
2g ground cinnamon
40g ground almonds
25g glycerine


The day before


* Place the dried fruits into a large bowl with the lemon and orange zest. Pour over the lemon juice and sherry. Mix the fruit thoroughly to combine. Cover with clingfilm, and leave to stand overnight.


* Line the base of the cake tin with a disc of baking parchment. Place a 'collar' of baking parchment around the inside of a 20cm round cake tin.


To make the cake


* Preheat the oven to 125ºC (fan-assisted), or gas mark 2. Beat the softened butter, sugar and treacle in a large bowl until light and fluffy.


* Add the beaten eggs to the butter mixture, a little at a time to avoid the mixture curdling. When all the eggs have been put in, add the flour, spices and ground almonds. Gently mix together until thoroughly combined.


* Stir the glycerine into the pre-soaked fruit (this helps to keep the cake moist). Add to the cake mixture and fold through until evenly mixed.


* Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tin and level off the top.


* Place into a preheated oven for approximately two hours until firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake will come out clean when the cake is cooked. (You may need to cover the top of the cake with a piece of baking parchment three-quarters of the way through baking to protect it, if necessary). When it's cooked, leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Leave the baking parchment on the cake while it cools.


'Feeding' the cake


* When the cake has cooled, brush the top and sides of the cake with sherry.


* The cake should then be wrapped in a clean sheet of greaseproof paper, then in foil, and placed in an airtight container or cake tin and stored in a cool, dry place. Repeat the 'feeding' of the cake with more sherry each month (maximum three times). The last feed should be at least one week before you cover the cake with marzipan.


MacNean Special Plum Pudding


150g raisins
150g sultanas
50g currants
½ small grated carrot
½ apple diced
50g mixed peel
½tsp mixed spice
50g chopped almonds
½tsp grated nutmeg
½tsp ground cloves
50g flour
150g breadcrumbs
Rind and juice of 1 lemon
150g butter, melted
2 eggs
150g soft brown sugar
10fl oz Guinness


* Sift together the flour, mixed spice, nutmeg and cloves. Add the breadcrumbs, raisins, sultanas, peel, almonds, apple, sugar, grated carrot and rind and juice of lemon and butter. Beat the eggs and gradually add to the mixture with Guinness. Mix thoroughly, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight. Next day, place the mixture in two prepared two-pint pudding bowls. Cover with greased paper and lid. Stand the bowl in a large cake tin and fill the tin ¾ full of boiling water. Cover with foil.


* Bake in a hot oven at 150ºC/gas 2 for six-eight hours. Or you can steam for six hours in the usual way. Cool, cover again with greaseproof paper and store in a cool, dry place. On Christmas day, cover again with greased greaseproof paper and lid. Steam for two-three hours.


To serve


* With a dollop of lightly whipped cream.


Handy hint - If you must light the pudding, be careful with the amount of alcohol you pour on. One tablespoon of heated brandy works just fine.


Catherine Leyden's tips for a perfect Christmas Cake


* Use good-quality ingredients. Nutmeg, cinnamon and spices which have been sitting in the press for a year won't do.


* Have the butter, marg, eggs at room temperature – if they're straight out of the fridge this can cause curdling and in severe cases the fruit will sink.


* Ovens vary hugely so follow the manufacturer's instruction but as a guideline bake for a longer time at a lower temperature because cakes can burn very easily.


* If you want to make the cake a little bit healthier, replace white flour with wholemeal and cut down on the amount of sugar because there's sufficient natural sweetness in all the fruit you're using. Don't change the fat, which you need to get the right consistency.


See Catherine's recipes at www.odlums.ie