Christmas cake

When to start baking and what you can freeze

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Christmas cakes take a bit of planning and a lot of preparation but they're worth it - it's so good to be able to say you made your own Christmas cake!

The best thing about Christmas cake is that you can make it months ahead (November is a good time but you can make it as little as a few days ahead if you've forgotten). You can even make 2 and save one for next Christmas (they have to be carefully sealed and stored). While you probably could freeze it, we don't think it's a good idea because it's likely to go crumbly and lose moisture - and why bother when they keep for so long?

How long have you got?

Five weeks:
Foolproof five-week Christmas cake
Date and walnut fruit cake
More than a week:
Mary Berry's classic Christmas cake (pictured)
Snow time Christmas cake Step-by-step guide!
Organic boozy Christmas cake
Less than a week:
Hairy Bakers' Christmas cake
Perfect Christmas cake
Last-minute Christmas cake
Dairy-free Christmas cake

The three main things to remember when making a Christmas cake are:

1. Follow the recipe to the letter and make sure that your basic cake mixture doesn't curdle when you add eggs. It's easy to do but if it does happen, it isn't the end of the world as there's also so much fruit in there.
2. Make sure you use the right tins and line them exactly as instructed - there's nothing more annoying and wasteful than a burnt or soggy cake.
3. Once your cake is baked, make sure you 'feed' it regularly with brandy (every other week), right up until Christmas, as this will keep it nice and moist. If you make your cake at Christmas time, feed it daily instead.

Top tip: If you don't want to put alcohol in your Christmas cake, you can replace the quantities with apple or orange juice. Do the same with the 'feeding' bit.

By Anna Penniceard and Catherine Archer