Want a great shortcut to making a quick and easy Christmas cake? Use a jar of mincemeat! This Easy Mincemeat Christmas Cake is made in a very similar way to a standard Christmas cake, but uses a jar of mincemeat instead of the dried fruit. The result is a little lighter than a standard Christmas cake, but just as delicious. Better still, this cake takes just 1 hour 15 minutes to make (plus 15 minutes to decorate) – perfect when you need a Christmas cake in a hurry!
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Can you make Christmas cake with mincemeat?
In a word, yes! This Easy Mincemeat Christmas Cake is made in a very similar way to a standard Christmas cake, but uses a jar of mincemeat instead of the dried fruit. It also means you don’t have to soak the dried fruit overnight, since that’s been done already in the making of the mincemeat.
This recipe came about because a reader asked me if she could use a jar of mincemeat instead of the dried fruit in my Emergency Last Minute Christmas Cake. Well I’d never tried making a Christmas cake with mincemeat, but it sounded like a brilliant Christmas cake hack, so I tried it and it worked!
I experimented first using 1 jar of mincemeat instead of the dried fruit and mixed peel in my favourite easy peasy Christmas cake recipe and then I tried 2 jars of mincemeat in the same recipe. And by far and away the 1 jar version was the best. The 2 jar version took much longer to cook and just tasted too ‘mincemeaty’.
The 1 jar version, on the other hand, was just perfect. The result is a little lighter than a standard Christmas cake, but arguably even more delicious… Honestly, I just couldn’t stop eating this cake!
How to make Mincemeat Christmas Cake
Thanks to the mincemeat shortcut, this cake is ridiculously easy to make – better still this Mincemeat Christmas Cake takes just 1 hour 15 minutes to make (plus 15 minutes to decorate) – perfect when you need a delicious Christmas cake in a hurry!
All you need to do is beat together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs. Next, stir in 1 jar of mincemeat and the glacé cherries. Then, gently fold in the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon. Next, add the cream sherry. Finally, tip the cake mixture into a prepared cake tin and bake for 1 hour. Easy peasy!
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
Easy Christmas cake decoration
If you are looking for a simple but attractive way to decorate a Christmas cake that requires no special skill or equipment, and takes less than 15 minutes, then you are going to LOVE this easy peasy way to decorate a Christmas cake…
All you need to do is roll out marzipan to just a fraction larger than the cake, then cut out a circle the same size as the top of the cake (Use the cake tin as a guide to help you get the circle just the right size!) Next, brush the cake with a very small amount of cold water. (This is to help the marzipan stick to the cake.) Then, place the marzipan circle on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
Next, roll out fondant icing to just a fraction larger than the cake, then cut out a circle the same size as the top of the cake. Brush the marzipan layer with a very small amount of cold water, then place the fondant circle on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
Finally, roll out the remaining marzipan and cut out a variety of different sized stars. (Or whatever Christmas shapes you like!) Place these stars at random on top of the cake, using a little cold water on the back of each star to stick them down. Your cake is now ready to eat!
(Full Christmas cake decoration instructions given in the recipe card below.)
No need to feed…
This Mincemeat Christmas Cake tastes amazing just as it is and there is no need to feed it with alcohol. In fact, I think it tastes much better un-fed.
However, if you want to feed your Christmas cake with alcohol, follow the instructions for feeding a Christmas Cake in this recipe.
How to store Mincemeat Christmas Cake
I’ve designed this cake so you can make it and decorate it all in one day. Once decorated, this cake should ideally be kept in an airtight tin to stop it going stale.
Alternatively, if you want to store this Christmas cake before decorating, wait until the cake is completely cold, wrap first in a layer of baking paper and then a layer of foil. Ideally you would then put the cake in an airtight tin. However, if you can’t find a cake tin the right size, simply wrap in a second layer of foil.
How long will Mincemeat Christmas Cake last?
Un-decorated, and correctly stored (see above), this Mincemeat Christmas Cake will last for up to 3 months, though I recommend eating within 1 month for the optimal flavour and texture.
Once decorated, this Mincemeat Christmas Cake will only last for a few weeks – a month at most. But for optimal flavour, I recommend eating within 2 weeks.
However, this cake is so delicious, I doubt it will even last that long. (It doesn’t in this house!)
Can you freeze Mincemeat Christmas Cake?
Amazingly yes! You can freeze the un-decorated cake. First wrap in baking paper and a double layer of foil – as explained above, then pop it in your freezer, where it will keep for up to a year.
Defrost at room temperature and decorate as above.
I wouldn’t recommend freezing an iced Christmas cake, however, as the marzipan and fondant icing do not fare well in the freezer!
How to line your Christmas Cake tin
You will definitely need to line the tin for this Christmas Cake recipe, but it’s really quick and easy to do! Simply take a sheet of baking paper and draw around the cake tin, then cut out this circle. This is to line the base of the cake tin.
Next, cut out two fat strips of baking paper – they should each be more than half the circumference of the tin and more than the height of the tin. (For a 20cm / 8inch tin, each strip should be roughly 7cm by 40cm or 3inches by 16inches.) This is to line the sides of the tin.
Then, lightly grease the base and sides of the tin with a little butter and place the circle in the base of the tin. Place the strips round the sides of the tin – they should slightly overlap and, height-wise, they should come to about 2cm / 1inch above the height of the tin.
Finally, grease the base and sides again, just for good measure. (In theory, cake shouldn’t stick to baking paper – in practice, an extra layer of butter really does help the cake come off the paper better!)
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Puff Pastry Mince Pies
Easy Mincemeat Christmas Cake
Ingredients
For the cake…
- 150 g butter softened
- 150 g dark soft brown sugar (you can use light soft brown sugar if you prefer)
- 2 large eggs
- 411 g jar of mincemeat (I use Tesco Finest)
- 200 g glacé cherries halved (You can buy these ready halved to save time)
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 30 ml cream sherry (I use Tesco Finest. Use apple juice if you don't like sherry or need this to be alcohol free.)
To decorate…
- 500 g marzipan (I prefer the paler ‘natural’ colour… but the bright yellow stuff works too!)
- 250 g white fondant icing
- Icing sugar (US - confectioner's sugar) for rolling out the marzipan and fondant icing
Instructions
For the cake…
- Preheat your oven to 160C / 140C fan / gas mark 3 / 325F. Grease and line a 20cm / 8inch round cake tin with baking paper. (See instructions and photos above in ‘HOW TO LINE YOUR CHRISTMAS CAKE TIN’.)
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar thoroughly.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture until smooth after each one.
- Add the jar of mincemeat and the glacé cherries. Stir gently until the fruit is evenly distributed.
- Gently fold in the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon until fully incorporated.
- Next, add the cream sherry and stir gently until mixed in.
- Tip the cake mixture into your prepared cake tin and get it straight into the oven. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer, inserted into the middle of the cake, comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for 20 minutes in the tin (or until cool enough to handle without burning your hands!), then remove the cake from the tin and allow to fully cool on a wire cooling rack… The cake should take approximately 2 hours from the time it comes out of the oven to cool fully. Do not decorate until completely cool!
To decorate…
- Dust your worksurface with icing sugar. Take half the marzipan and roll it out to just a fraction larger than the cake. Cut out a circle the same size as the top of the cake, using a knife – use the cake tin as a guide to help you get the circle just the right size!
- Brush the cake with a very small amount of cold water. (This is to help the marzipan stick to the cake – be very sparing, you don’t want to make the cake wet!)
- Place the marzipan circle on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
- Roll out the white fondant icing to just a fraction larger than the cake. Cut a circle the same size as the top of the cake, using a knife – again, use the cake tin to help you get the circle just the right size!
- Brush the marzipan layer with a very small amount of cold water.
- Place the fondant on top of the cake and trim any overhanging edges with a sharp knife.
- Roll out the remaining marzipan and cut out a variety of different sized stars. (Or whatever Christmas shapes you like!)
- Place these stars at random on top of the cake, using a little cold water on the back of each star to stick them down.
- Your cake is now ready to eat!
Notes
- Suitable for freezing. (Undecorated Cake only.)
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
- The un-decorated cake is approximately 353 kcal per slice.
Pin Easy Christmas Rocky Road for later
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Disclosure
*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
Natalie says
Would this same mixture make mini Christmas cakes
Eb Gargano says
No reason why not. Obviously the cooking time would be less, though. Let me know how it goes!
Natalie says
Great, Thank you so much
My first messaged posted before i had a chance to say please and thank you! My apologies
I kept checking every 5 mins after 25 mins and they turned out perfectly at 35 mins
Eb Gargano says
Aw, no worries. And great to hear they turned out so well!