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Though Stir-up Sunday is traditionally the day to mix your mincemeat and plum pudding, I鈥檒l be making our Christmas cake on that day as well. Very dark, with a sticky treacle-rich crumb, and a flavour that combines a mix of dried fruit and spices with orange zest and rum. My recipe for this year isn鈥檛 final yet, but I鈥檓 sure it鈥檒l include prunes, raisins and home candied orange peel, .

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The stirring-up of mincemeat, puddings and more recently cakes, is associated with the last Sunday before the the run up to Christmas. It very irreverently took the first words from from the Book of Common Prayer, words every vicar would have spoken that morning in church - 鈥淪tir up, we beseech thee, O Lord鈥� - as a call to get cracking in your kitchen with fruit, suet, and brandy.

From the moment it was stirred-up and in the weeks that followed, the fruit in subtly plumps and absorbs moisture and spice flavour while the maturing mellows the sharp alcoholic bite of the brandy. The pudding, even though sealed tightly, would lose some moisture in the way that a cellophane-covered jar of home-made jam or pickle does: the flavour intensifies and the crumb gets darker and more compact. Both develop a richly complex texture and an aroma ready to burst out when eaten.

The modern British Christmas cake tradition evolved relatively quickly from very , and , that were symbolic bread-like loaves commonly baked in homes until the early 1800s - through to the magnificent iced 鈥榩lum鈥� cakes that became popular from that point onward. This change was driven by the accessibility and cheapness of the fruit, sugar, nuts and spices that Victorian traders made available to working people. Some historians have suggested that today鈥檚 cake is a hybrid of the much older plum pudding and the venerable .

This basic fruitcake recipe evolved as other cultures influenced the flavour and ingredients. The has a heady pudding-like texture soaked in a combination of rum and other spirits, so good that it inspired me to make a with stout one year. In Australia when I was growing up, we鈥檇 used candied tropical fruit, like pineapple and mango, and macadamia nuts. Looking back at old recipes I have from America from the 1930s, it鈥檚 the generosity of fruit and sweetness that sets those recipes apart from British recipes from that era. Today, if you want a you鈥檒l be in good company if you turn to Delia.

If you want to keep your cake simpler, think about a barm cake like from 1932. Related to the Yule cake, it was once made with a piece of bread dough that had sugar, fat, spices and fruit kneaded through after it had it鈥檚 first rise, but once baking powder became available that became the preferred method. By contrast, is a type of light fruited gingerbread, rich with treacle. For a modern take, try Nigel Slater鈥檚 and replace the sultanas with 150g dark raisins.

Stollen has fast become a favourite Christmas cake in Britain, and homebaker Nils has , depending on the sort of baking adventure you鈥檙e after. Panettone, an outrageously complex sweet bun from Italy is usually best bought from a shop. Having said that you could make as a trial. B没che de no毛l, the Christmas chocolate cake from France that resembles a cut tree log, has its fans too, and there鈥檚 even a that looks as good as the wheat version.

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Christmas baking is integral to the festivities, so what are you planning this year? And if you have any festive baking-related questions, post them here and I鈥檒l try to help.

Dan Lepard is a food writer for and a baking expert.