LAPSANG SOUCHONG CHRISTMAS CAKE
) Amy Chaplin was the midwife of this genius. New York City (and my brain) is a better place because of it. Feel free to use Earl Grey or green tea instead of the smoky Lapsang. And parachute some goji berries in there, too.
You will need
Olive oil, for brushing 200g (7oz) roasted hazelnuts 75g (2½oz) unsulphured dark apricots 210g (7½oz) regular pitted dates 375ml (13floz) hot, strong Lapsang Souchong tea 375g (13oz) seedless raisins 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 1 tablespoon vanilla extract Zest of 1 unwaxed orange 180g (6½oz) walnuts or salted pistachios Brandy butter, to serve Fire up your oven to 150°C, 300°F, Gas 2. Line a 30.5cm x 30.5cm (12in x 12in) springform cake tin with some oiled parchment paper. Grind the roasted hazelnuts in a food processor. Tip the ground roasted hazlenuts into a large mixing bowl and set them aside. There’s no need to clean the food processor — you’ll be using it later.
Now, soak the unsulphured dark apricots and the pitted dates in a 250ml (8floz) cup of hot Lapsang Souchong tea for 10 minutes. Drain them well, and set them aside.
Add the remaining 125ml (4floz) of hot Lapsang Souchong tea in the cup, into a small saucepan, then add the raisins and boil them. Stir, cover the pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, and continue to cook the raisins for a few more minutes, or until all the tea has cooked off and the raisins are bursting with plumpness.
Spin the cooked raisins in your food processor, along with the ground cinnamon, the freshly grated nutmeg, the ground allspice, the vanilla extract and the orange zest. Blend everything until you have a smooth paste. Tumble this paste into the bowl of ground roasted hazelnuts you set aside earlier, along with the drained apricot and date mixture you had also set aside. Fold everything together really well. Now stir through the walnuts or the salted pistachios, whichever you’re using. Press the cake mixture into your prepped tin, and smooth the top. If you have extra nuts, you can decorate the edges.
Bake the cake for 1 hour. Remove it from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing it from its tin. This cake will store for 3-4 weeks in the fridge.
Serve it thinly sliced, with some brandy butter and a good boxset.