Christmas cake

This is a light fruit cake.  You can make it your own by substituting ingredients for example if you don't like cherries add golden sultanas or soak fruit in lemon or orange juice.

This recipe makes 1 x 9inch deep filled cake, adjust measurements and cooking times as necessary

A.
1350g sultanas
100g cherries
100g mixed peel
160g prune juice (or orange juice)

B.
450g butter
8 eggs
450g soft brown sugar
2 table spoons honey

C.
450g self raising flour
2 heaped teaspoons spice of choice (eg cinnamon and nutmeg)
100g ground almonds
200g nibbed almonds

Method:

• Prepare tins by lining with grease proof and if you have it double line with brown paper (the grease proof on the inside) this helps prevent burning of the outer edges.
• Preheat oven to 200C
• Soak ingredients A in the prune juice overnight, mix well.
• Cream ingredients B-the butter, sugar and honey, add eggs gradually ( use some of the flour if the mixture starts cracking)
• Stir in ingredients C into the butter mixture, then follow by the soaked fruit of which any excess juice has been drained. 
• Spoon into the prepared tins, leaving a little dip in the centre (to allow for the cake rising)
• Put in the oven at 200C for 25 minutes after which reduce the oven temperature to 140C and cover with a double sheet of brown paper or a silpat (to prevent the top colouring too much) and cook for 2 hours
• After cook a further two hours at 120C (with brown paper still on top)
• Remove from oven and allow cool totally,brush with apricot jam and cover with marzipan, decorate with roll out icing or royal icing.

Santa face Christmas cake-one of two designs I made this year

Christmas cake design 2. marzipan fruit

I made these marzipan fruit with three supermarket liquid colours blue  (blue mixed with yellow is green), yellow and red.  The 'stalks' are  whole cloves cloves.  Use a small paint brush reserved for pastry work for painting on extra effects.  Add lemon extract to the lemon and orange extract to the orange if desired.