Mead Matured Christmas Cake Recipe

With Christmas 6 weeks away (mild panic), it’s time to prepare your christmas cake and bring a little festive honeyed warmth into your kitchen. We know, it all feels far too soon! But Christmas cake needs plenty of time to soak!

If you’ve not made your own Christmas cake before, this is your invitation to slow down, savour the season and start a new tradition.

This Mead Matured Christmas Cake is adapted from the traditional recipe with a honey twist. By feeding your cake with mead instead of brandy or rum, you’ll add soft floral notes, natural sweetness, and a golden depth that works perfectly with festive flavours. It’s less sharp than spirits, with a smooth, honey-rich warmth that enhances the fruit and spice.

Why a Matured Cake Works So Well

Traditional Christmas cakes are all about time and patience. They’re baked in advance and "fed" every few weeks so the flavours can deepen. Replacing the usual brandy with mead enhances that process beautifully. The honey character complements dried fruit, citrus and spice, while mead’s smooth finish keeps the flavour balanced and mellow. The resulting flavour of cake is actually very much like a mead style called Metheglin (a spiced mead)!

Ingredients

• 1 kg mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes or figs)
  
• Zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
  
• Around 150 ml Traditional or Whisky Aged Mead (plus keep extra for feeding later)
• 250 g softened butter
• 200 g light soft brown sugar
  
• 175 g plain flour
  
• 100 g ground almonds
  
• ½ tsp baking powder
  
• 2 tsp mixed spice
  
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
  
• 100 g flaked almonds
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

How to Make a Mead Matured Christmas Cake

1. Prepare the fruit
Add the dried fruit, citrus zest and juice, butter, sugar, and a generous glug of mead (150ml ish) to a pan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Tip into a large bowl and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven
Heat the oven to 150 °C (130 °C fan / gas 2). Line a deep 20 cm round cake tin with double parchment, and wrap the outside with newspaper or brown paper tied with string to protect it from overbaking.

3. Combine everything
Stir in the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, spices, flaked almonds, eggs, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly so everything is evenly combined.

4. Bake
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake for around 2 hours. Check with a skewer; if it comes out clean, it’s ready.

5. Feed with mead
Once baked, pierce the warm cake several times with a skewer and spoon over 2 tablespoons of mead. Let it cool completely in the tin.

6. Sit back and relax
This is perhaps the most important step. You’ve achieved a lot, and you have an open bottle of mead. We recommend finding your most comfortable chair and having a glass.

7. Store and mature
Wrap the cake in baking paper and foil, then store in an airtight tin. Feed it with 1–2 tablespoons of mead every two weeks to build flavour and keep it moist. Stop feeding about a week before icing.

Timing and Tips

• Bake at least six weeks before Christmas, so anytime now!

• Feed your cake every two weeks to develop a rich, complex flavour.

Serving and Pairing

When it’s ready, you can serve your cake simply with a dusting of icing sugar or a layer of marzipan and royal icing. Pair a slice with a traditional mead or warmed glass of mulled mead for an extra festive moment.

Try pairing it with:

• Traditional Mead because more of something good, equals even better?

• Mulled Mead for extra warmth and festive spice

• Cheese because Christmas

• Honeyade Pure Honey for a refreshing, lighter festive drink option

If you are feeling extra decadent, create a holiday grazing board with slices of mead matured cake, roasted nuts, dried fruit, sharp cheddar cheese and a small glass of mead or Lime & Mint Honeyade for a naturally refreshing pairing.

Enjoy!