Cakes

Christmas Cake

Recipe Submitted By: bakingmad

We have baked this cake in a 15cm cake tin to create a cake with height. It looks dramatic when decorated! Our special ingredient is Billington's Dark Muscovado Sugar which adds a richness to this festive bake.

Preparation Time	1 hour
Baking Time	1 hour 30 minutes
Portions	20 slices
Skill Level	Easy
Average Rating

Ingredients

250 grams	Mixed Dried Fruit organic,
150 ml	Ginger Wine
250 grams	Butter Organic
225 grams	Billington's Dark Muscovado
3	Eggs Medium sized
250 grams	Allinson Nature Friendly Self Raising Flour
1 tbsp	Ground mixed spice

Additional Ingredients

4 tbsp	Apricot Glaze
500 grams	Silver Spoon Cakecraft Finest Quality Marzipan
3	Egg Whites
1 tbsp	Silver Spoon Cakecraft Glycerine
500 grams	Billington’s Golden Icing Sugar sifted

Method

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Put the dried fruit into a bowl . Add the Ginger Wine and stir everything together. Cover with cling or place in a sealed container for up to a week.
Grease and line the base and sides of a 15cm (6in) cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180C / fan 160C / gas 4.
Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and cream together with a hand held mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs a little at a time, adding 2tbsp of flour to stop the mixture curdling. Sift in the remaining flour and mixed spice, then fold in.
Put half the macerated fruit into a processor and whizz until it's smooth Add to the flour with the rest of the fruit and boozy liquid. Fold everything together. Spoon into prepared tin, smoothing over the surface, leaving a slight dip in the surface.
Bake for 1 ½ hours. Cool in the tin.
Turn the cake onto serving plate or board and peel away the lining paper. Brush the top and sides of the cake with apricot glaze. Roll out the marzipan on a sheet of baking parchment to a 25cm / 10inch circle. Lift up the paper and upturn the marzipan, positioning it centrally. Peel away the paper, then gently press and smooth the marzipan around the top and sides of the cake with the palm of your hand. Trim off excess marzipan around the base of the cake.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl and gradually beat in the icing sugar (with a wooden spoon or in a free standing electric mixer) until it¹s a stiff mixture. Add the glycerine. Use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top of the cake, smoothing and peaking. Now spread the cake smoothly over the sides of the cake.