Name: English Christmas Cake
Yield: Serves 12
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: ½ tsp salt; 110 g (3¾ oz) mixed citrus peel; 110 g (3¾ oz) glacé cherries; 50 g (1¾ oz) whole almonds; 1½ tsp mixed spice; 2½ tsp unsweetened cocoa powder; 40 g (1½ oz) ground almonds; 260 g (9¼ oz) butter, softened; 260 g (9¼ oz) soft brown sugar; 5 eggs, lightly beaten; 150 g (5½ oz) apricot jam, warmed; 650 g (1 lb 7 oz) marzipan; 50 ml (2 fl oz) water; 1 tsp brandy; 1½ tsp coffee essence; 50 g (1¾ oz) caster sugar; grated zest of ½ large lemons; 1½ tbsp brandy; green and red food colouring; icing sugar, for dusting; 225 g (8 oz) white sugar paste; 275 g (9¾ oz) plain flour, sifted; 275 g (9¾ oz) raisins; 150 g (5½ oz) sultanas; ½ tsp baking powder; 450 g (1 lb) currants

Preparation info

Serves
12

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

World's Best Cakes

By Roger Pizey

Published 2013

About

With Christmas being such a busy time, it’s great to know that you can bake and decorate this cake well in advance - in fact, its flavour matures and improves over time. I like to decorate my Christmas cake simply with a few flowers, leaves and berries and finish it off with a ribbon, but some people prefer to create whole winter wonderlands on top of their cakes.