Sorry Shauna, I vote doorstop....I can't stand the taste of Christmas cake, my mom makes it every year for us kids and she's the only one that ends up eating it ;)

Christmas pudding, I remember Granny made it every year when she was with us. Now that was good! I never learned to make it, but I do remember seeing tin cans and cheesecloth in the kitchen when she was preparing it.

Sharon

I like fruitcake, and prefer the light. I've never made it but somehow I thought wax paper was the trick to keeping it moist? Would they not freeze well?

We like both dark & light, but only the stuff my mom makes. She always gives each of us kids a piece about 4"x4"x4", that is just the right amount. It is wrapped in waxed paper then overwrapped in plastic wrap. Seems to keep it moist until it's gone.

One of my co-workers tried slicing Christmas cake really thin and baking it in a slow oven to crisp up the slices. Sort of a twist on those yummy & expensive Rainforest cookies (crackers?). She said it worked pretty good. I'd like to try it sometime.

I have a friend who grew up working with his mom and dad in their bakery in the 1920's and 30's. In the last few years he needed help/assistance when baking so I helped him make his Christmas pudding and cake. Everyone seems to have their own secrets to making the best Christmas pudding/cake and everyone that I served those years loved the pudding and cake that he gave me to share with my family. I don't like either the cake or pudding and so I didn't know if they were good or not, but everyone else thought they were great.

When he made Christmas pudding he used ceramic bowls with the rim around the top edge and string and cotton material to cover the top with and then placed them in a large shallow pan with some water and then steamed the pudding for 5 hours.

I will be seeing him on Monday so I will ask him what the best way is to store Christmas cake and pudding.

Now, his cakes are baked in 3 to 6 layers of brown paper greased with melted butter on the inside and out. His notes say never never use aluminum or wax paper to bake Christmas cake in. Why? I don't know but I will clarify that on Monday. The ones I received from him were all wrapped in a few layers of brown paper and placed in a plastic bag. They were in the fridge for months and were apparently great then also.

Brenda

Brenda, you have jogged another memory out of the depths of my cob-webbed mind. Thanks. I don't make nor like Christmas pudding but I did remember all of the ceramic bowls and cotton topping that Mom used to make hers. But, I had totally forgotten about the brown paper for the Christmas cakes. She always had a big roll of brown paper and I seem to recall the row of pans lined up with the brown paper liners. She had a huge crockery bowl that she used to mix the cake and I think she made about 6 or so loaf sized cakes every Christmas. I'll make a note of the brown paper on my recipe and give it a try when I make mine.

I'm interested to hear what your baker friend has to say about the aluminum and the wax paper. I found that wax paper seemed to make them "crusty" and dried them out. But then again, I thought that might have just been me.

Shauna

I visited with him a few times since I posted here last time.

Question...best way to store Christmas Cake...Christmas Cake needs to breath. So wrapping it in a few layers of brown paper (or the kind of brown paper that you would wrap meat in with the waxy part on one side) is the best. If you wrap Christmas cake with plastic it will go moldy sooner because it can't breath. Guess it depends on how fast it will be eaten whether it will go moldy.

Question...wax paper or aluminum to line the pans with for Christmas cake... Never use them. If you cook with the aluminum you will be having to pick the aluminum off the side of the cake later. He remembers spending about an hour to pick out the aluminum before he iced the cake. Someone had baked it and asked him to use the Christmas cake and decorate if for their daughter's wedding cake. He decorated hundreds and hundreds of wedding cakes over the years.

When you bake the Christmas cake you are to start at a high temperature and then turn it down. The high temperature is too hot for wax paper which will 'mess up' the cake. He said it doesn't cook properly if you use was paper. Best to use brown paper and coat it with butter. Do not use anything but butter to grease it with. He recalls someone using lard to grease with. That was the worst tasting Christmas Cake he said.

Brenda

Thanks, Brenda for talking to your baker friend and to all of you for your thoughts on this. I really do think that it was the brown paper method that my mom used.

Just another reminder of what I forgot to ask mom. It wasn't until she passed away that I realized just how many of her recipes had ingredients only with no directions, or were written in shorthand - Pittman, I think. I don't think they even teach shorthand anymore, do they? : )

Shauna