Christmas Cake

Name: Christmas Cake
Yield: Serves 8–10 (makes 1 x 22 cm/9 inch cake)
Ingredients: 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 275 ml/10 fl oz/1¼ cups brandy; 1 tsp ground ginger; 225 g/8 oz/2 cups ground almonds; 455 g/1 lb/3 cups chopped candied peel; 340 g/12 oz/3 cups dried cherries, roughly chopped; 455 g/1 lb/3 cups dried currants; 455 g/1 lb/3½ cups flour, sifted; 3 eggs, lightly beaten; 455 g/1 lb/2 cups butter, plus extra for the tin; 340 g/12 oz/1⅔ cups sugar; finely grated zest of 2 oranges; food colouring, as desired (not blue); 1.15 kg/2½ lb royal icing (bought is fine), plus 225 g/8 oz for piping; 3 tbsp apricot jam, pushed through a sieve to remove lumps; 1.15 kg/2½ lb marzipan (almond paste); ½ tsp salt; icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar), for dusting; ½ tsp ground allspice; ½ tsp ground mace; rice flour or cornflour (corn starch), for dusting

Preparation info

Serves
8–10
(makes 1 x 22 cm 9 inch cake)

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

How to Cook The Victorian Way with Mrs Crocombe

By Annie Gray and Andrew Hann

Published 2020

About

Fruit cakes have a long and noble history, going back at least to the medieval era when richly spiced fruited breads were features of any celebration. During the 18th century the rich fruit cake as we know it in Britain today developed, complete with marzipan and royal icing. They were expensive to make, but could be kept for years. Until the late Victorian era they were usually made for Twelfth Night, but as the 19th century waned and Christmas celebrations became centred