Granny Green’s Christmas Cake

BY RACHEL GREEN

Preparation

Line a deep 20cm square tin with a double layer of baking parchment then grease with butter.

Ingredients 

• 1 kilo dried fruit (to include plenty of cherries, cranberries, chopped apricots, mixed peel etc to make it a luxury fruit mix)
• 275g plain flour
• 250g butter, softened
• 250g soft dark brown sugar
• 1tbsp black treacle
• 60g ground almonds
• 4 large Fairburn’s British Blue eggs
• 1tsp vanilla
• 1tsp almond extract, optional
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• 4 tbsp medium sherry
• ½ lemon zest and a dash of the juice
• ½ orange grated

Preheat the oven to 140C/275G/Gas 1

Method

Combine the dried fruit and candied peel in a large bowl. Add the 4 tbsp sherry and stir in to mix well. Cover and leave overnight.

Put the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer until well combined. Stir in the soaked fruit with any soaking liquid.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Level the top and cover with a disc of baking paper. Bake for 4-5 hours until firm to the touch and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.

To make Mini Christmas Cakes

Cut out small disks of cake using a cutter then top the mini cakes with a disc of marzipan, then top with royal icing, so the icing drips down the cakes. Top with a whole pecan nut sprayed with edible gold or dried orange peel or cranberries.

Place on a plate or a piece of slate and dust with more edible gold.