CHRISTMAS CAKES

Who is looking forward to their Christmas pud this year?

We cannot wait! Our top baker in the office Gretel (our designer) has followed Mary Berry’s Christmas Cake recipe, she swears by it and we just cannot wait to finally get a taste. If you will be baking your Christmas deserts this year, we recommend Mary’s recipe below.

Ingredients

•  175g/6oz raisins
• 350g/12oz natural glacé cherries, halved, rinsed, and dried
• 500g/1lb 2oz currants
• 350g/12oz sultanas
• 150ml/¼pt brandy or sherry, plus extra for feeding
•  2 oranges, zest only
• 250g/9oz butter, softened
• 250g/9oz light muscovado sugar
•  4 free-range eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp black treacle
• 75g/3oz blanched almonds, chopped
• 250g/9oz plain flour
• 1½ tsp mixed spice

 For the covering

• 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed and sieved
• icing sugar
• 675g/1lb 8oz marzipan

For the royal icing

• 3 free-range eggs, whites only
• 675g/1½lb icing sugar, sifted
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 1½ tsp glycerine

Preparation method

1.  For the cake, place all the dried fruit into a mixing bowl. Pour the brandy over it and stir in the  orange zest. Cover this with clingfilm and leave to soak for around 2-3 days, stir daily. 

2. With your tin, it should be a round tin with measurements 23cm/9in deep. Grease and line with a double layer of greased, greaseproof paper. Then preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.

3. Measure the sugar, butter, treacle, eggs and almonds. Place into a very large bowl, beat well

(preferably with an electric free-standing mixer). You can now add the flour and ground spice, mix throughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit and spoon into the prepared cake tin. Don't forget to level the surface. 

Place in the centre of the preheated oven for about 4-4½ hours, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown colour. Check back around 2 hours later if the cake is a perfect colour then cover with foil. Push a skewer into the centre of the cake, the skewer should come out clean if cooked well. Leave cake to cool in the tin. 

4. When the cake has cooled, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer, feed it a little extra brandy.  Wrap the cold cake completely in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil. Store in a cool dry place for up to three months, feeding at intervals with more and more brandy. (Don’t remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.)

5. To cover the cake, you will want to start the week before you actually serve it. 

6. Stand the cake upside down, flat side uppermost on a cake board that is 5cm/2in larger than the cake size.

7. Brush the sides and the top of the cake with the warm apricot jam.

8. Dust a work surface generously with icing sugar then roll out the marzipan to5cm/2in larger than the cake surface. Keep moving the marzipan to ensure it isn't sticking to the work surface.If sticking occurs, dust the work surface with more icing sugar. 

Technique: How to marzipan a fruit cake

9. Lift the marzipan over the cake using a rolling pin, be careful. Gentle level and smooth the top of the paste with the rolling pin, the easy the maezipan down the sides of the cake. If careful your marzipan should cover the cake with no excess, however if there is any excess trim carefully with a sharp knife. Cover the cake loosely with baking parchment and leave for a few days to dry out before adding the royal icing.

10. For the royal icing, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Mix in the sifted icing sugar a tablespoonful at a time. You can do this with a hand-held electric whisk however keep the whisk on low speed at all times.

11. Stir in the lemon juice and glycerine and beat the icing until it is very stiff and white and stands up in peaks.

12. Cover the surface of the icing tightly with clingfilm and keep in a cool place until needed.

13. To ice the cake, place all of the icing on top of the cake, spreading evenly over the top and sides with a pallete knife. For a snow-peak effect, use a smaller palette knife to make a rough effect.

14. Loosely cover the cake and leave overnight for the icing to harden a little. Wrap and store in an airtight container until served. 

We hope you have a jolly time making this and we would like to see the pictures of your Christmas cakes. 

Love Ruby+Ed x 

BETTER PACKAGING AND IMPROVED SERVICE

Christmas is no doubt our busiest time of the year, we're all thinking about gifts to buy for the whole family. We have been working hard here at Ruby+Ed HQ to improve our service for you this year. We have a dedicated customer service team who are here to help with any query you may have, this includes sizing queries, making orders and returns.

We always keep our customers in the loop, we send out emails every two weeks to keep you up to date with what is going on at Ruby+Ed. The benefits of joining our mailing list is that you are the first to know about upcoming sales, offers, deals and competitions. To become part of the Ruby+Ed family please sign up to make an account with us.

When ordering from us your product will arrive in a black outer carton (picture 1 below) this is what you will receive your full order in. Please note this is not a gift box and will come with courier stickers on. Every order leaving our warehouse will be wrapped inside either the outer carton or gift box in purple tissue paper. Alternatively we do have gift boxes available to buy, these are delivered inside an outer carton therefore sticker free. 

This Christmas we have a brand new gift box to introduce you to. The new gift box has a matte black finish with a Ruby+Ed branded patch on the lid. You will be able to fit all ladie's, men’s and kids slippers in. The box is £4.95 to buy on its own, however if you are choosing a gift set then it is included in the price, how fabulous!

Alternatively our classic white gift boxes are still available in small and large. The small gift box is the perfect size to fit in Women’s accessories such as hats, gloves, scarves and also baby slippers/accessories. The large box will be able to fit multiple items in as a gift to one person or individual items such as a coat, gilet or yeti boots.

 

You can now cut out the middle man this festive period as we are happy to play Santa and deliver the gift for you!

When buying a gift box we will actually pack the gift and contents ready for the person receiving it. The gift box will arrive in an outer carton with the gift inside, when opening the lid you will find that all the contents have been wrapped in luxurious purple tissue paper and sealed with a Ruby+Ed sticker, ready for them to unwrap. 

Whats on your wish list this Christmas?

Love Ruby+Ed x 

CHRISTMAS SHOP

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? 

If not, don’t worry, there's still plenty of time left!  We've done the hard work for you and selected the top Christmas gifts that they will love. We have everything in one place for you whether you are looking for that stylish stocking filler or that big present under the tree; view them all in our Christmas Shop now.

We're going to be kicking off the festive fun with gifts for her! If you are buying for Mum, Sister, Auntie, Gran or your Wife, we have granted all her wishes this year.

Perfect presents for Mum: 1. Snowdrop tweed mule £37.50 2. Mink fur neck warmer £39.75 3. Orchid Pink filigree mule £37.50 4. Wolf cuff knit glove £25

  

Treat your Sister: 1.Orchid Pink velvet bow ballerina £39 2. Burgundy suede lace up £49 3. Mr & Mrs Sno mule £34 4. Snow Leopard fur snood £37.50

Spoil your Wife: 1. Dusty Plum velvet bow ballerina £39 2. Wolf fur snood £37.50 3. Jet hooded coat £275 4. Oriental embroidered ballerina £36

If you love what you see, then view our full collection online, or alternatively see more ideas in our Christmas Magazine. 

Love Ruby+Ed x 

STORE IN THE SPOTLIGHT: THE BATH HOUSE

This week we had to highlight one of our favourite stores,The Bath House. With four fantastic shops located in and around the Lake District it’s a must see! Focused around The Bath House’s own brand of naturally good bathing and body products the stores are everything a British Made Brand should be. Made almost entirely from the Sedburgh head office, the products are enriched by an inspiring location deep within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

All four boutiques create a memorable shopping experience through having a unique collection of products, genuine customer service and an exciting visual concept with a modern twist. Whether you are looking for a gift for a friend or a treat for yourself there are a variety of ‘All things Lovely’ to delight the senses. 

Make sure you pop in and visit if you are in the area.

Love Ruby+Ed x 

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Last week we held our Christmas in July press day at The Music Room in London. The creative team dug out all of the tremendous props for the day ranging from apple crates, candles and Santa signs, then headed down to London for an early start. The weather was lovely and hot outside but the top floor was fully decorated with tinsel, baubles and holly. Although Christmas is a few months away, we brought our festive spirit and filled the room with glee.

Guests had the opportunity to enjoy a chilled glass of champagne whilst admiring our fabulous furry gift sets. Our Christmas Gifts were a hit with the press and they had the opportunity to see the full AW13 Collection again. We had visits from top fashion and home magazines including Glamour, Red, Elle Decoration, Instyle, Daily Mail and many more.

We are so excited to launch our AW13 Collection in September. We hope that you enjoyed the sneak peak!

Ruby+Ed x