mary-berry-christmas-cake.md

Mary Berry's Christmas Cake with fondant icing and marzipan

Equipment: Round cake tin, size 23cm Baking time: 4¾hrs Serves: 17-20

Ingredients

• 400g currants
• 225g sultanas
• 225g raisins
• 150g glacé cherries, rinsed, dried and quartered
• 150g ready-to-eat dried apricots, snipped into pieces
• 65g mixed candied peel, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp brandy, plus extra for feeding the cake
• 275g plain flour
• scant ½ tsp grated nutmeg
• ¾ tsp ground mixed spice
• 275g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 275g dark muscovado sugar
• 5 large free-range eggs
• 65g whole almonds (skins left on), chopped
• 1 tbsp treacle
• 1½ unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest only
• 1½ oranges, finely grated zest only

For the marzipan

• 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
• icing sugar, for dusting
• 750g marzipan

For the fondant

• icing sugar, for dusting
• 750g fondant icing

Method

1. Put the currants, sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries, apricots and mixed peel in a large bowl. Stir in the brandy, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place overnight.
2. Lightly grease your cake tin. Cut a strip of baking paper to fit twice around the sides of the tin, fold the bottom edge of the strip up by 2.5cm, creasing it firmly, then open out the fold and cut slanting lines into this narrow strip at intervals. Put a circle of baking paper on the base of the tin. Lightly grease the outer edge and then fit the prepared strip of baking paper with the snipped edge in the base of the tin to line the sides. Place a second circle of baking paper in to cover the cut part of the paper.
3. Preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1.
4. Put the flour, nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, almonds, treacle and citrus zest in a large bowl and beat well. Fold in the soaked fruits.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon.
6. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of baking paper. Bake for the specified time, or until the cake feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. It’s a good idea to check the cake half an hour before the cooking time is up. Allow the cake to cool in the tin.
7. When cool, pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and 'feed' with a little splash of brandy. Once the cake is completely cold, remove it from the tin but leave the lining paper on it. Wrap the cake in a double layer of baking paper and again in foil. Store in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months, feeding at intervals with more brandy.

Marzipan with fondant icing

1. The week before you want to serve the cake, begin covering it. Stand the cake upside down, flat side uppermost, on a cake board or serving plate that’s 5cm larger than the cake.
2. Brush the sides and top of the cake with the warm apricot jam.
3. Dust a work surface with icing sugar. Roll out the marzipan to a circle 5cm larger than the surface of the cake.
4. Carefully lift the marzipan over the cake using a rolling pin. Gently level and smooth the top with the rolling pin, then ease the marzipan down the sides of the cake, smoothing it as you go. If necessary, trim excess marzipan from the base of the cake with a small sharp knife.
5. Dust a work surface with more icing sugar. Roll out the fondant icing to a circle 5cm larger than the surface of the marzipan-covered cake. Cover the marzipan with the fondant and smooth the surface. Trim excess icing from the base of the cake.
6. Leave the cake loosely covered overnight for the icing to harden a little, then wrap or store it in an airtight container in a cool place until needed.