Christmas Cake

Christmas is an ideal and wonderful time to feel like the ‘hostess with the mostess!’ There are so many recipes you can prepare ahead of time and this Christmas cake is one of them. Best made around a month in advance, this fruity, almondy, moist Christmas cake is loaded with dried fruit and marzipan and fed with amaretto. Unlike other recipes, you can start and finish this cake on the same day. The cake batter is quick and easy to make and arguably the most time consuming aspect of the dish is lining and greasing the cake tin.

Although you can serve it as is, I like to cover the cake with marzipan and then add a layer of glazed, dried fruit and nuts. Equally you could cover it with marzipan and royal icing and decorate it in your own style.

How to make Christmas Cake

Part 1 – ingredients:

• 175g unsalted butter, chopped
• 200g light brown sugar
• 300g mixed sultanas, raisins, currants and mixed peel
• 100g dried chopped dates, stone removed if necessary
• 100g dried figs, stem removed and chopped
• 100g dried, chopped apricots
• 100g glacé cherries, halved
• 100g dried cranberries
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 100ml/130g amaretto

You will also need:

• 150g yellow marzipan, chopped and frozen

Part 2 – ingredients:

• 85g ground almonds coarsely ground – not the type that is like flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 200g plain/all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Post cooking:

• 4 tablespoons amaretto (optional)

How to make this this amazing Christmas Cake:

1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
2. Part 1 – weigh the butter, sugar, mixed dried fruits, prepared dates, figs, apricots, cherries and cranberries into a large saucepan with the orange and lemon juice and zest and the amaretto. Slowly bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring from time to time, for 10 minutes.
3. Transfer to a heat proof bowl and set aside to cool for a minimum of 30 minutes. Give it a stir occasionally to aid the cooling process.
4. Now chop the marzipan into small cubes. Lay some baking parchment onto a flat surface, I use a chopping board, and scatter the marzipan cubes on it, in an even layer. Pop in the freezer to harden. This will help them keep their shape when stirred into the cake batter. It will also ensure that they do not dissolve at all in any residual heat left in the batter.
5. Line the cake tin: use 2 layers of baking paper and brown paper around the outside of the tin – see below for details.
6. Part 2 – preheat oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3 (fan 150°C).
7. When the mixture has cooled, beat in the ground almonds.
8. Next add the beaten eggs and stir to mix well.
9. Place a sieve over the cake mixture and sift over the flour, salt, baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon and allspice. Fold, until nearly mixed in.
10. Fold in the frozen marzipan.
11. Transfer to your prepared cake tin, level the surface and then make a slight indentation in the centre. The cake will rise slightly when cooking and this step will help ensure the cake has a flat surface.
12. Place in the centre of a preheated oven and cook for 45 minutes. Then, turn the oven down to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2 (fan 130°C). Cook for a further 2 – 2 1/4 hours, or until the cake is cooked. It is cooked when the centre of the cake feels firm to the touch and is a dark golden brown. Pierce the cake with a skewer or knife – when the cake is cooked, it should some out clean. Check the cake as it cooks – if it is browning too quickly cover gently with foil.
13. When cooked remove from the oven and puncture the cake 10 – 12 times with a skewer or sharp knife. Drizzle over 4 tablespoons amaretto. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
14. When the cake is cool, remove from the tin and the baking parchment. Re-wrap in fresh baking paper and then in 2 layers of kitchen foil. Set aside in an airtight container a for a minimum 3 – 4 weeks, or up to 3 months, for the cake to mature.
15. Optional: I like to feed the cake with an extra 4 tablespoons amaretto whilst it is maturing. 4 weeks before you marzipan and finish the cake, unwrap it feed it weekly with 1 tablespoon amaretto. Rewrap carefully.

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Finishing the cake:

• icing sigar
• 500g marzipan – this will give you a thick layer of marzipan. If you are not a fan, feel free to use less.
• 5 tablespoons apricot jam
• 2 tablespoons water

A selection of dried fruit and nuts. I use:

• 16 Mejdool dates, stone removed
• 4 dried apricots
• 8 – 10 pecan nuts
• 22 – 25 whole almonds
• 4 – 8 glace cherries

You simply need to:

1. Gently heat the apricot jam and water in a saucepan over a moderate heat. Mix well and then force through a sieve.
2. Using your hands, push the marzipan together ot make a square shape. Sprinkle the icing sugar over a kitchen surface and roll out the marzipan to measure 20cm/8in square. Use the base of the baking tin as a guide and a stencil to cut around.
3. Brush the top of the cake with the apricot jam and then cover with the marzipan. Brush this with another layer of apricot jam.
4. Decorate with your choice of dried fruit and nuts and then brush these with a final layer of apricot jam.
5. Voila!!!

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Lining a Christmas Cake baking tin:

This cake is going to cook in the oven for a long time, so it is important that the cake tin is properly lined in numerous layers of paper. This will help prevent the outside of the cake overcooking and potentially burning, before the inside of the cake is cooked.

1. Start by cutting out 2 x large 55cm squares of baking parchment. Sit the base of the cake tin in the centre of the baking parchment papers and fold the edges up and around the base of the tin to create a square centre.
2. Unfold the paper and make a diagonal cut from each corner to the corner of the cake pan base.
3. Scrunch both pieces of baking parchment together and then carefully flatten out. This makes the paper much easier to work with.
4. Lift up the first piece of paper and slot it inside the tin. The paper will come well above the sides of the tin – this is exactly what you want.
5. Cut the corners out of the second piece of baking parchment and grease thoroughly with butter. Slot this into the baking tin, on top of the other paper.
6. Use heatproof string to secure a double thickness of brown paper around the outside of the cake tin. The cake tin is nopw ready.

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