Christmas Cake Recipe

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is a chef, food photographer, cookbook author and blogger.
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In my kitchen today I will show you my special Christmas Cake Recipe.

Based on cheesecake this is an elegant Christmas cake in a modern way.

Today I have one wish free and… through trial and error and long consideration I have come to this fantastic result:

The fulfillment of three wishes instead of just one.

First: A Christmas cake thanks to speculoos and a Christmas cherry with cinnamon.

Secondly, a reminder of my favourite dessert, crème brûlée.

Three, my absolute favorite, cheesecake.

So I can enjoy Christmas, because what has been baked with love and inspiration not only delights my palate, but also opens my heart 

I wish you much joy in baking and good luck!

1. The Preparation for the Christmas Cake

We coat our closed springform pan well and lushly at the bottom edge with aluminum foil. No water must be allowed to penetrate! As a clever baking fox, I crimp about a forearm length of foil and put it in the deep oven tray as a cake tray base. On a cake foot bath I have namely no desire.

I adjust my filled springform pan on the aluminum foil in the oven tray by eye. I don’t need a spirit level for that 🙂

Then I preheat my oven already times at 180 ° C. I don’t want to put the water into the deep oven tray until my springform pan is completely filled. Therefore, we immediately undertake the next steps…

Our Christmas cake is baked as a cheesecake in a water bath. It’s the only way to make it perfect!

Baking Tip from Chef Thomas Sixt

So we enter the race with a 28cm springform pan, a deep oven tray, aluminium foil and 1/2 l water.

Pour the baking sheet in the oven with the cake pan over the water.Baking tray in the oven with cake tin while pouring water.

2. Recipe Christmas Cake

For your Christmas bakery I will now show you the recipe with all steps and pictures. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me using the comment function at the bottom of the page.

Christmas Cake

Baked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.

Servings 8
Calories 971
Total Time 120 Min.
Preparation Time 30 Min.
Cook Time 90 Min.

Simple instructions for Christmas cake baking.

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Christmas cake recipe picture
Christmas Cake Recipe Image © Thomas Sixt

Ingredients

Kuchen-Boden

220 g speculoos (finely crushed)
1 pinch Salt (I use primal salt or Himalayan salt)
75 g butter (melted)

Kuchen-Füllung

900 g cream cheese (I take original Philadelphia)
300 g Sugar (fine brown sugar)
30 g starch
2 tsp vanilla extract (I recommend the liquid vanilla extract)
2 pc eggs
175 ml Cream (fresh whipped cream)
1/2 pc lemon, peel and juice (I use an organic lemon)

Für das Karamellisieren

4 tbs brown sugar

Kirschen

100 g pickled morello cherries and juice (out of glass)
6 tbs Sugar
1-2 pinches cinnamon

Instruction

Preparation water bath

Baking sheet and water bath
Place the cake tin in a deep baking sheet and prepare the water.

Preparations

Preheat the oven to 180° C

Grease a 28 cm diameter springform pan well with butter.

Wrap the springform pan well with aluminium foil and prepare it waterproof for a water bath in the deep oven tray.

Cake base

Chop up the biscuits for the cake base
Chop up the biscuits for the cake base.

Crush cookies

Crush the speculoos with a mortar and crush it finely.

Melt the butter
Butter when melting in the pot

Prepare butter

Melt the butter.

Mix the biscuit crumbs with the butter
Mix the biscuit crumbs with the butter. This creates a simple cake base.

Prepare cake base

Mix the speckulatius crumbs, butter and a pinch of salt together.

Put the biscuit crumbs in the cake pan
Put the butter biscuit crumbs in the buttered cake tin.

Cake base ready

Pour the resulting short pastry into the mould and press it firmly flat against the base.

Prepared cake pan
Cake pan with cake base and wrapped in aluminum foil.

Pan aside

Put the filled springform pan aside for the next steps.

Filling

Add eggs to the cake filling
Add the eggs to the cake filling.

Prepare filling

Put cream cheese, cream, eggs, sugar in a bowl.

Prepare the cake filling
For the cake filling, put the cream cheese, lemon zest, vanilla sugar and starch in a bowl.

Add ingredients

Add starch, liquid vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon rubbing and mix.

Pour the cake filling
Pour the prepared cake filling into the cake pan.

Filling

Pour the filling compound into the springform pan.

Smooth out the filling
Spread the poured cream cheese filling in the mold.

Smooth

Spread the mixture on the cookie dough.

Cake in a water bath
Pour the baking sheet in the oven with the cake pan over the water.

Cake baking

Reduce the oven temperature (top and bottom heat) to 120-140° C

Place the springform pan in the deep oven tray. Pour 1/2 l water on it. The cake should be well protected by the aluminium foil in the tin.

Bake the cake in a water bath for a good 90 minutes or let it set.

Let the cake cool down after baking and put it in the refrigerator for about 6 hours.

Caramelize cake

Caramelize pieces of cake with sugar
Caramelize the pieces of cake with sugar.

Caramelise

Sprinkle the well-cooled cake with 3-4 tablespoons of brown sugar and caramelise with the Crème Brulee burner until a light brown, crisp thin crust is formed.

Prepare cherries

Put the cherries on a sieve
Sieve the cherries from the glass and collect the cherry juice.

Prepare cherries

Place the pickled cherries in a sieve. Collect the juice.

Place the drained cherries separately.

Cherry compote
Mix the cherries with the boiled down cherry juice and serve.

Finish cherries

Put the cherry juice with cinnamon and sugar in a saucepan or casserole on the stove and let it simmer at low temperature for about 20 minutes. – Optionally you can also add 1-2 tablespoons of rum.

Then pour the boiled and thickened juice back over the cherries.

Arrange

Christmas cake emotion picture
The Christmas cake comes fluffy with crispy caramel on the table and fork.

Serve

Arrange the freshly caramelized cake pieces with the cherries decoratively and serve.

Bon appetit!

Video

3. Nutritional Values

4. Cake Base Tips for Christmas Cake

Here’s some great news for you: Preparing the cake base is a breeze!

All you need is speculoos, some butter and salt.

The speculoos are best finely chopped. This works well with a mortar or a food processor that can do this. Add the butter in liquid form and add a pinch of salt.

Pour everything into the greased springform pan and press it flat on the bottom. You are already through 🙂

Chop up the biscuits for the cake base.Crush the biscuits for the cake base.

5. Prepare Filling for Christmas Cake

Now comes the next step in our baking pleasure: The delicious cheesecake filling. So here…

What do we need:

Mix everything finely with a hand mixer. Then it can be poured into the mould to form the base.

Portrait format picture, pour the stirred filling into the cake pan.Pour the mixed filling into the cake tin.

6. Baking and Waiting Time

Now we need heavenly patience: Baking in a water bath only works at a low temperature in the oven (approx. 120-140° ‘C’ top/bottom heat). That is why it takes a good 90 minutes.

Afterwards the kitchen cools down and has to be put in the fridge for about 6 hours.

7. Caramelize Christmas Cake

All the time I am looking forward to this part of our baking story: the caramelisation of the cheesecake after baking and cooling down.

Now, once again in order of repetition:

Caramelize the pieces of cake with sugar.Caramelise the cake pieces with sugar.

8. Tips for Christmas Cherry Garnish

I love this combination of a sweet, creamy cake and a fruity side dish. I find cherries with cinnamon to it fine and Christmassy. Of course my cherries come across a little thickened like a sauce with lots of cherries in it. This is simply rounder and more beautiful in taste.

Mix the cherries with the boiled down cherry juice and serve.Cherries mixed with cinnamon and boiled cherry juice as a fruity Christmas cake side dish.

So beautifully arranged our great Christmas cake becomes an eye-catcher…

Christmas cake served with cherries and a caramel crustChristmas cake arranged with cherries and caramel crust

9. More Recipe Ideas…

Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers

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