Christmas Cake with Soaked Raisins

The preparation step by step

1. Prepare the trim

   Gather 220 g raisins in a bowl. Pour 80 ml of orange juice on the raisins, mix, cover and let macerate 1 hour. Stir midway. Store all the liquid to then incorporate it into the dough with the fruits.

2. Get the ingredients out in advance

   Cut 120 g of soft butter into cubes and let it become soft for about 30 minutes at room temperature; it must yield under the spatula without being melted. Prepare 3 medium eggs and 50 ml of whole milk. Very cold eggs mix less easily with butter. Keep 100 g of brown sugar separately to work with the butter.

3. Line the mold

   Cover the bottom and walls of a metal cake mold of 24 x 10 cm of baking paper, letting it protrude on the large sides. Turn the oven on at 165 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan). Place the wire rack at mid-height; remove unnecessary plates so that heat circulates around the mold.

4. Work on butter and sugar

   Place 120 g of soft butter and 100 g of brown sugar in a large bowl. Crush with a spatula, then fudge for 2 to 3 minutes until a more flexible and homogeneous mixture is obtained. Scrape the bottom and the walls. Do not get an oily liquid; if the butter melts, put the salad bowl in the cool for a few minutes.

5. Add the eggs one by one

   Break the 3 medium eggs separately in a small bowl to check for no shell. Add them one after the other to the butter-sugar mixture, whisking about 30 seconds after each addition. If the preparation becomes slightly granular, continue: the dry ingredients will combine it. Do not heat the bowl to smooth it.

6. Gathered the dry ingredients

   Mix 220 g of T55 wheat flour, 8 g of baking powder, 2 g of cinnamon, 1 g of salt in a second bowl. Drizzle dry for 30 seconds, or pass through a strainer to break the clumps. This step distributes the spices and baking powder throughout the dough, without concentrating a bite of baking powder.

7. Fold in flour and liquid

   Pour half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Lift with a spatula until the flour is almost incorporated, then add 50 ml of whole milk. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix just enough to make the flour disappear. Do not frolic any longer: the dough should remain supple and thick.

8. Spread the trim

   Add 220 g of raisins and all remaining maceration liquid to the bowl. Lift the dough from the bottom to the top with the spatula and turn the bowl a quarter turn each time. Stop as soon as the pieces are distributed; do not crush the fruit against the wall.

9. Fill the mold

   Pour the preparation into the pan by scraping the bottom of the bowl. Smooth the surface and pushes the dough towards both ends. The mold should not exceed two-thirds of its height. Place it on the oven rack; cook any excess separately rather than filling to the edge.

10. Watch the cake

    Cook for about 55 minutes at 165°C, without opening for the first 35 minutes. From 50 minutes, check the heart with a skewer; it must come out without raw dough. A piece of wet fruit can stain the sting: then check a second crumb spot next to it.

11. Adjust the end of cooking

    If the center still leaves a shiny paste, continue in 5-minute slices. Cover the top with a sheet of baking paper if it becomes too brown. Remove the pan with oven gloves and let stand for 15 minutes before gently lifting the cake through the paper.

12. Cool and Served

    Place the cake on a rack, spread the paper and let cool for about 2 hours. Cut ten slices with a bread knife, with gentle back-and-forth movements. The cake does not receive any additional filling; the crumb and the fruit bring its final appearance. Pack the rest only when it is cold.