Traditional Christmas fruit cake recipe: When should you bake your Christmas cake for the best flavor?

Core Insights - The Christmas fruit cake is a traditional dessert that improves with age, becoming richer and more flavorful when made weeks or months in advance [1][3] - The cake is typically baked around Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, and is regularly fed with alcohol to enhance its flavor and moisture [2][3] Ingredients - The recipe includes a variety of mixed dried fruits such as raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes, or figs, along with citrus zest and juice from oranges and lemons [5][6] - The batter consists of softened butter, light brown sugar, plain flour, ground almonds, mixed spices, cinnamon, cloves, and flaked almonds [6] Preparation Steps - The preparation begins by heating dried fruit, citrus zest and juice, alcohol, butter, and sugar until melted, followed by simmering to plump the fruit [7][8] - After cooling, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, spices, flaked almonds, eggs, and vanilla extract are mixed in before baking at a low temperature for about two hours [9][18] Feeding and Storage - Once baked, the cake is poked with holes and fed with alcohol, then stored in an airtight tin, with feeding occurring every two weeks for up to two months [10][11] - The cake can be made up to three months in advance and can also be frozen before feeding or icing [13][16] Flavor Profile - The signature flavor of the cake comes from the combination of mixed spices, cinnamon, and cloves, which complement the fruit without overpowering it [13]