Christmas Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 525g Currants
• 225g Sultanas
• 225g Raisins
• 110g Mixed candied peel
• 165g Glace cherries, halved
• 300g Plain flour
• Pinch salt
• ½ tsp Mixed spice
• ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground nutmeg
• 300g Butter, slightly softened
• 300g Soft brown sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp Brandy

Feeding

• Brandy, 2 tbsp per week

Marzipan

• 400g Marzipan

Icing

• 3 Egg whites
• 550g Icing sugar
• 2 tsp Glycerine

Method

Cake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
2. Line a 9 inch cake tin with greaseproof paper.
3. In a large bowl mix the currants, sultanas, raisins, peel and cherries with the flour, salt and spices.
4. In another large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Stir in the lemon zest.
6. Add the beaten egg to the butter mixture a little at a time, mixing slowly each time to ensure it doesn’t curdle.
7. Mix half the flour and fruit into the egg and butter mixture, then fold in the second half.
8. Finally mix in the brandy.
9. Spoon the mixture into your tin and smooth the top flat. Give the tin a few taps on the worktop to knock out any air bubbles.
10. Cook in the oven for approximately 2.5 hours, checking regularly.
    • If a skewer comes out clean, it is cooked
    • If the top is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil
11. Leave the cake to cool in the tin on a wire rack for an hour. The cake stores well wrapped in greaseproof paper in an airtight tin.
12. Remove from the tin and leave on the rack until completely cool.
13. Give the cake its first feed — prick holes all over and pour 2 tbsp of brandy over the top, ensuring it soaks in.
14. Wrap in greaseproof paper then foil and store in an airtight tin.

Feeding

1. Repeat the feeding every week, stopping no later than 2 weeks before Christmas.

Marzipan

1. Two weeks before Christmas, do your last feed and leave it a week to settle.
2. Roll out the marzipan large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake.
3. Heat apricot jam until spreadable and brush it all over the cake.
4. Drape the marzipan over the cake, smooth it down the sides and trim off any excess.
5. Leave uncovered in your tin to dry for a week.

Icing

1. On Christmas Eve, the marzipan should have had nearly a week to dry — you are ready to ice.
2. Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites alone for one minute.
3. Gradually add the icing sugar a little at a time, whisking until stiff peaks form.
4. Add the glycerine and give one final whisk — this stops the icing going brittle.
5. Spread the icing over the cake and decorate as you wish.
6. Place back into a container or display box.