You love the idea of baking your own Christmas cake rather than buying one or relying on a panettone or two, but your heart sinks when you see a recipe with a list of ingredients as long as your arm. How about a recipe with just five ingredients?

That is all it takes to make the easiest Christmas cake I have ever made. Just butter, soft brown sugar, eggs, flour and a pack of mixed dried fruit, in that order and in the correct proportions, and you have an excellent cake. With this recipe you can make a small or large cake. I made a 14cm cake, 8cm deep. The ingredients in brackets will give you a 19cm cake.

Traditional Christmas cakes can be made weeks in advance, but I only made mine two weeks before Christmas last year, without noticeable loss of quality. You can, of course, add spices if you wish, orange flower water, liqueur, various nuts and candied peels. But then, it is no longer a five-ingredient Christmas cake.

I have to admit to pouring in with the fruit the contents of a miniature spirit bottle. Unlabelled, I’m still not sure what it was, but it might have been an ancient experiment with bitter orange zest infused in sherry. Thank goodness it was not like the bottle in Alice in Wonderland with a ‘drink me’ label. Who knows where I would be now!

To finish the cake, since it is so easy to make and the shopping is so straightforward, you might like to make your own almond paste and royal icing – again, the recipes are easy.

I opted for an all-white cake, but you can also colour a portion of the icing for decorations. Both of these can, of course, also be bought ready-made, only requiring to be rolled to fit the cake.

Stir-up Sunday is the informal name in the Anglican tradition for the Sunday before Advent, when the collect read in church that day includes the words: “Stir up, we beseech thee, oh Lord, the wills of thy people...” It was said to remind all those present that it was time to make – stir up – the Christmas pudding at home. Once that day has passed, then thoughts really do turn seriously to baking and cooking for that long stretch between Christmas and Epiphany. Why fight it, I thought.

Stir-up Sunday is the informal name in the Anglican tradition for the Sunday before Advent

So I have included a few more recipes that will be useful when you are entertaining. The crackers can be passed round with drinks. If you are good at freehand drawing, you might make a Christmas cracker shape out of thick card – the one sometimes used in superior chocolate bar packaging – and use it as a template.

The Spanish shortbread is an old recipe I came across when sorting out my office, and goes back to a time before we used the metric system. I have converted the recipe for easy use. Lard is very good for biscuits, giving a lovely crisp finish. You can, of course, replace it with butter, or use half and half.

These do wonders for a cup of tea or, even better, a mid-afternoon cup of hot chocolate. The walnut roll is perfect for a leisurely breakfast and is also delicious served with cheese.

Almond paste

250g ground almonds
175g icing sugar
175 g caster sugar
1-2 tsps orange flower water or rose water (optional)
Whites of 2 small eggs for white
marzipan or
Yolks of 2 small eggs for yellow marzipan

Marzipan is ideal for large fruit cakes such as Christmas and wedding cakes, which will be stored for some time.

The thick covering helps keep the cake moist, as well as adds an extra layer of richness. Home-made marzipan is very easy to make, simply by mixing together the almonds, sugars, flower water, if using it, and enough egg to make a firm, pliable paste. Roll out as required, using a little sifted icing sugar on the work top to prevent sticking.

Easiest-ever Christmas cake

150g (200g) unsalted butter, soft but not melted
150g (200g) soft brown sugar
3 (4) eggs, lightly beaten
175g (225g) plain flour, sifted
750g (1kg) mixed dried fruit; if you can buy a presoaked variety, this is even better.

Prepare the cake tin, greasing it and lining the bottom and sides with baking parchment or with baking silicone cut to shape. Preheat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, Gas Mark 2.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs a quarter at a time, alternating with folding in the flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Stir in the dried fruit and spoon the mixture into the cake tin. Smooth and flatten the top.

Bake for three to four hours, checking after a couple of hours, and if it is browning too fast, cover with a double round of baking parchment. When it is cooked, a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool the cake in the tin for 15 minutes before carefully turning it out on to a wire rack to cool. At this point, when it is completely cold, you can wrap it in several layers of greaseproof papers, then foil and store in an airtight container until required. Or you can proceed, once the cake is completely cold, to cover it with almond paste and decorate with royal icing.

(Ingredients in brackets will give you a 19cm cake.)

Yeasted walnut roll

(makes 1 large roll)

1 x 7g sachet fast action yeast
300ml scalded milk
50g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
100g butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
750g plain or all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

For the filling
250g fresh walnut pieces
50 to 100g sugar, according to taste
A little warm milk to mix

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, including the yeast. Melt the butter in the milk and stir this into the flour together with the egg. The dough can be mixed by hand or in a food processor.

Put on to a floured board, and knead for five to 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, to obtain a firm but elastic dough. Put it into a large oiled basin or in a large polythene bag, cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by putting the walnuts with the sugar in the food processor and adding just enough warm milk to make a spreadable paste.

Roll the dough out very thin, dividing it into two if you want two smaller rolls. It should be about ¼-inch thick when rolled out. Spread the filling over the surface, and roll it tightly, bending it gently into a crescent shape.

Brush the top with a glaze made by beating together a little milk and egg, and bake in a fairly hot oven, Gas Mark 5, 190˚C/375˚F, for 20 to 30 minutes, until well risen, golden and hollow-sounding when you tap the base. Remove to a wire rack. Brush a little melted butter over the top and allow to cool completely before slicing.

Christmas crackers

(makes 16)

125g porridge oats
125g plain flour
¼ tsp cayenne or paprika
70g butter
1 egg white
1 tsp each poppy seeds and sesame seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Christmas cookie cutters

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F, Gas Mark 4.

Put the oats in a food processor and whizz until you have a coarse flour. In a mixing bowl mix it with the plain flour and seasoning. Rub in the butter until crumbly. Add three tablespoons cold water and mix to a dough. Knead until smooth – this will take only two or three minutes. Roll out to 4mm thick and cut out the shapes, about 16 in all once you have used up all the dough. Place on lined baking sheets and brush with lightly beaten egg white. Scatter on all the seeds while the egg white is still tacky. Bake for 20 minutes or so until golden. Cool on the tray for five minutes, then transfer on to a wire rack. Cool completely before serving or storing for up to five days in an airtight container.