Christmas Cake

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the cake. Even though I really don't like marzipan so have to give that, along with the icing to which it is impossibly fastened away, something about the rich, filling cake just makes the festive season that bit jollier. This recipe makes a lovely, moist cake quite unlike the dry things too often found in supermarkets, but requires an enormous list of ingredients, not to mention being prepared weeks in advance! The recipe is from Sue Maggs' 'Cooking for Christmas' book, which also has lots of other really good recipes in. The cake can be made 4-6 weeks before Christmas and left without icing, during which time it should be pierced with a needle and 2-3tbsp brandy should be spooned over. 

Method:

1. The day before you want to bake the cake, place all of the dried fruit to soak in a bowl with the brandy/sherry, cover with clear film and leave overnight

2. Grease a 20cm round, deep cake tin and line with greaseproof paper

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius

4. Sift together the flour, salt, spices and cocoa powder

5. Whisk together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, before beating in the 4 eggs

6, Mix in the candied rind, ground and chopped almonds, dried fruit (with any liquid) and flour mixture

7. Spoon into the prepared cake tin, level the top and tap onto a work surface to remove air bubbles from the mixture

8. Bake for 3 hours, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean

9. Leave to cool in the tin for an hour before turning out onto a wire rack, leaving the greaseproof paper on

10. When the cake is cold, wrap tightly in foil to store in a cool place.

For the marzipan (or almond paste)

1. Sift the ground almonds, caster sugar and 175g icing sugar together into a bowl

2. With a fork, beat the 1tsp lemon juice, almond essence and 1 egg into a small bowl

3. Stir everything together and knead to form a sort of dough, which can be wrapped in clear film until needed

For the royal icing:

1. Beat together the egg whites, lemon juice and glycerine (if using) in a large bowl

2. Gradually sift in enough icing sugar to form a thick paste, before beating the remaining in with a wooden spoon until the icing forms stiff peaks

Assembly:

1. Warm and sieve the jam to form a glaze, which should be spread with a brush over the the cake once its paper has been removed 

2. Roll out the marzipan to o.5-1cm thick, and cut out a circle with a diameter a couple of cms bigger than the cake's, and a couple of long rectangles the width of the height of the cake.

3. Stick the rectangles round the sides of the cake, cutting them so that the fit neatly to the sides

4. Place the circle of marzipan on top, trimming the edges if necessary with scissors

 5. Cover with royal icing

6. Decorate as you wish, perhaps by colouring any remaining marzipan an cutting it into shapes, or with shapes of fondant icing