This is one of our FAVOURITE Christmas recipes and we make it every year. The result is a delicious doughy ring filled with raisins and nuts that lasts at least 2 weeks (not in our house!), perfect with tea or as a cheeky snack between meals. This recipe makes 4 big rings so we usually half it if there aren’t so many people around the house.

Dough Ingredients (Makes 4 large rings)

- 1 cup milk

- 8 cups flour

- 1 1/4 cups cold water

- 2 packets yeast (4 1/2 tsp)

- 2 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup sugar +2 tsp sugar

- 4 tbsp melted margarine or butter

- 2 beaten eggs

Filling Ingredients (per cake)

- 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

- 1/3 cup sugar (we usually use demerara but any will work)

- 1tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 cup raisins, currants or sultanas

- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we usually use pecans or walnuts but this Christmas we've mixed both and it tastes great!)

Icing Ingredients

- 1 cup icing sugar

- 2 or 3 tsp milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C

2. Scald the milk. Add cold water to the scalded milk and measure out half of this mixture into a small bowl. When this is lukewarm, dissolve in 2 teaspoons sugar and sprinkle in the yeast

3. Place 7 cups of sifted flour into a mixing bowl

4. To the other half of the cold water-milk mixture add salt, sugar, margarine and eggs

5. Combine the mixture from number 3 and the risen yeast mixture and then add to the flour. Mix this all together and knead lighting, adding up to 1 cup more flour

6. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it has at least doubled in bulk (at least an hour)

7. Punch dough to get rid of the air and divide into 4. Roll out one of these sections to be a very thin rectangle

8. Brush the surface with melted butter or margarine then sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon, raisins and nuts. Make sure all the goodies go right up to the edge so the ring isn't left with any empty areas. We sometimes end up adding more nuts and raisins just to make it extra full!

9. Roll up tightly from the longest edge, make sure you do it as tightly as possible, then shape into a circle by putting the ends together and squeezing a little to get the dough to stick

10. Make crossways cuts around the top of the ring a few inches apart (scissors make this much easier) and then fold the top layer back to expose the sugar mixture underneath but hide all the nuts and raisins so they don’t burn while in the oven

11. Leave to rise until around double the size and then bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown

12. Once cool drizzle icing (the icing sugar mixed with the milk to a honey consistency) over the top and enjoy!