Quick Christmas cake recipe

By Debbie Major

Makes 2 cakes, each serving 8
Takes 30 minutes to make, 1½- 1¾ hours to cook, plus cooling
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This delicious Christmas cake is ready in half the usual time. A great festive standby!

Ingredients

600g good-quality mixed dried fruits
150ml whisky, warmed
150g stem ginger, drained, plus
8 tbsp ginger syrup from the jar
200g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
200g soft light brown sugar
4 large free-range eggs
2 tbsp milk
Finely grated zest of 2 small oranges and 2 lemons
50g ground almonds
150g whole glacé cherries

To decorate

4 tbsp shredless orange marmalade
500g white marzipan
Icing sugar, for dusting
500g white fondant icing
1 egg white, lightly whisked
6-8 small fresh rosemary sprigs
Caster sugar, for dusting
Silver-coated chocolate dragées (from cake decorating shops) or sugared almonds, to decorate

Method

1. Put the dried fruits in a bowl and pour over the whisky. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the fruit to plump up.
2. Briefly blend the ginger and its syrup in a mini food processor until finely chopped. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan140°C/gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the cherries. Beat with a hand-held electric whisk for 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. Fold in the soaked dried fruits and any whisky, the whizzed ginger and the cherries.
4. Spoon into the tin and level off. Bake for 1½-1¾ hours until firm and golden brown. Cover loosely with foil after 1 hour if it is darkening too much. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool.
5. To decorate, remove a thin slice from all sides of the cake and discard. Cut the cake in half to make 2 rectangles. In a small pan over a low heat, warm the marmalade with 2 tbsp of water. Keep warm. Knead half the marzipan until smooth, then roll out, on a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, into a 22cm x 20cm rectangle. Trim the edges. Brush the top and the 2 long sides of one cake with half the warm marmalade mix, then lay the marzipan over the cake and press it on firmly.
6. Repeat with the second cake and remaining marzipan. Cover the cakes with the icing in the same way as the marzipan, but stick the icing on by brushing the marzipan with freshly boiled water. Trim the edges neatly.
7. Lightly brush some egg white over the rosemary, then cover generously with sugar and shake away the excess. Decorate the cakes with the frosted rosemary sprigs and silver dragées or sugared almonds. Wrap silver ribbon around the cakes to finish, if you like.