Festive Christmas Fruitcake With Nuts
- 1 cup butter, at room temp
- 5 ounces light muscovado sugar
- 6 large beaten eggs
- 1 14 cups plain flour
- 3 ounces ground almonds
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 700 g luxury mixed fruit (including raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel and glace cherries)
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 5 ounces diced white marzipan
- 2 ounces whole skinned hazelnuts
- 2 ounces blanched almonds
- 3 ounces brazil nuts
- 3 ounces sliced almonds
- 5 ounces whole glace cherries
- 12 cup golden syrup or 12 cup corn syrup
- 1 meter of wide ribbon
- Preheat oven to 180C or 350F and light grease and line the base and sides of a deep 22-23 cm round loose-based cake pan with baking parchment paper.
- Beat butter, sugar, egss, flour, ground almonds and spices until thoroughly mixed and creamy, preferably with an electric beater or in a food mixer.
- Measure 1/2 cup of the cake batter, put into a bowl and set aside.
- Fold in the fruit and rum into the remaining mixture, then gently stir in the marzipan.
- Spoon this into the prepared cake pan and smoothen out with a spatula.
- Then make a slight dip in the center of the cake.
- This will give the finished cake a nice flat top.
- Bake for 1 1/4 hours.
- Meanwhile, make the fruit and nut topping.
- Mix all the nuts, cherries and syrup into the remaining cake mixture.
- Spoon the mixture on top of the part-cooked cake (once it has had its 1 1/4 hours), evenly distributing the mixture of nuts and cherries across the surface of the cake.
- Loosely cover the top of the pan with foil.
- Return to the oven for 40 minutes, then take off the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, so the nuts can turn golden.
- Keep an eye on them, so they don't get too dark or burn.
- To test the cake, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean then it's ready.
- Cool in the pan and then turn out, keeping the lining on, and wrap with foil.
- (The cake will keep up to 2 weeks or can be frozen up to 2 months.)
- To serve, remove the cake from the foil and strip away the lining.
- Place on a board or serving plate and tie with a decorative ribbon.
butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, mixed fruit, dark rum, white marzipan, hazelnuts, almonds, nuts, almonds, glace cherries, golden syrup, meter
Taken from www.food.com/recipe/festive-christmas-fruitcake-with-nuts-48765 (may not work)