Ingredients

• 175g/6oz raisins
• 350g/12oz natural glacé cherries
• halved
• rinsed
• and thoroughly dried
• 500g/1lb 2oz currants
• 350g/12oz sultanas
• 150ml/¼pt brandy or sherry
• plus extra for feeding
• 2 oranges
• zest only
• 250g/9oz butter
• softened
• 250g/9oz light muscovado sugar
• 4 free-range eggs
• at room temperature
• 1 tbsp black treacle
• 75g/3oz blanched almonds
• chopped
• 250g/9oz plain flour
• 1½ tsp mixed spice
• about 3 tbsp apricot jam
• warmed and sieved
• icing sugar
• 675g/1lb 8oz marzipan
• 3 free-range eggs
• whites only
• 675g/1½lb icing sugar
• sifted
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 1½ tsp glycerine

Directions

• For the cake
• place all the dried fruit
• including the cherries
• into a large mixing bowl
• pour over the brandy and stir in the orange zest. Cover with clingfilm and leave to soak for three days
• stirring daily.
• Grease and line a 23cm/9in deep
• round tin with a double layer of greased greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 140C/130C Fan/Gas 1.
• Measure the butter
• sugar
• eggs
• treacle and almonds into a very large bowl and beat well (preferably with an electric free-standing mixer). Add the flour and ground spice and mix thoroughly until blended. Stir in the soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level the surface.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 4-4½ hours
• or until the cake feels firm to the touch and is a rich golden brown. Check after two hours
• and if the cake is a perfect colour
• cover with foil. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
• When cool
• pierce the cake at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little extra brandy. Wrap the completely cold cake in a double layer of greaseproof paper and again in foil and store in a cool place for up to three months
• feeding at intervals with more brandy. (Don’t remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.)
• The week before you want to serve
• begin covering the cake.
• For the covering
• stand the cake upside down
• flat side uppermost
• on a cake board which is 5cm/2in larger than the size of the cake.
• Brush the sides and the top of the cake with the warm apricot jam.
• Liberally dust a work surface with icing sugar and then roll out the marzipan to about 5cm/2in larger than the surface of the cake. Keep moving the marzipan as you roll
• checking that it is not sticking to the work surface. Dust the work surface with more icing sugar as necessary.
• Carefully lift the marzipan over the cake using a rolling pin. Gently level and smooth the top of the paste with the rolling pin
• then ease the marzipan down the sides of the cake
• smoothing it at the same time. If you are careful
• you should be able to cover the cake with no excess marzipan to trim but
• if necessary
• neatly trim excess marzipan from the base of the cake with a small sharp knife. Cover the cake loosely with baking parchment and leave for a few days to dry out before adding the royal icing.
• For the royal icing
• whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they become frothy. Mix in the sifted icing sugar a tablespoonful at a time. You can do this with a hand-held electric whisk
• but keep the speed low.
• Stir in the lemon juice and glycerine and beat the icing until it is very stiff and white and stands up in peaks.
• Cover the surface of the icing tightly with clingfilm and keep in a cool place until needed.
• To ice the cake
• place all the icing onto the top of the cake. Spread evenly over the top and sides of the cake with a palette knife. For a snow-peak effect
• use a smaller palette knife to rough up the icing.
• Leave the cake loosely covered overnight for the icing to harden a little
• then wrap or store in an airtight container in a cool place until needed.