Michelle Darmody: How to get started on festive baking and the recipe for my mother's Christmas cake

Make your cakes and mince now so they can mature over the coming weeks 

How to make a traditional Christmas cake.

It is a good time to start getting your Christmas baking in order, if you have not done so already. I generally make my cake and mince around now and leave them mature over the coming weeks.

Each year I use the same base recipe, that I have been using for years, but adapt it slightly. One year I made the mince with the addition of candied orange and some extra zest. It worked out beautifully. This year I kept my mince traditional but added a rich combination of ingredients. The muscovado sugar, pecan nuts and Amarena cherries all complement the dark rum. Amarena cherries can be found in Italian shops, in many supermarkets, you can also buy them online. They generally come preserved in a sweet syrup, which you can drain before chopping the cherries.