Sig's Lighter Yuletide Cake

• 225 grams butter softened plus extra for greasing
• 2 tbsp Brandy
• 1 pinch of saffron about 1/4 strand
• 225 grams golden castor sugar
• 4 eggs
• 225 grams plain flour
• 50 grams ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 300 grams each of raisins and sultanas
• 100 grams natural coloured glace cherries
• 85 grams mixed peel
• 50 grams each ,whole blanched almonds and hazelnuts or other nuts of preference ,roughly chopped
• 50 grams walnut pieces ,to soak , this can be repeated twice more
• 3 tbsp brandy extra
• 2 tbsp honey that is runny
• 1 eggwhite
• 50 grams castor sugar
• 1 small bunch black grapes
• 2 small sprigs of holly
• 2 clementines
• 2 just ripe figs
• 2 kumquats , or if difficult to get hold of any small fruit or slices that you like to eat
• 4 cape gooseberries( physalis)
• 1 length 65 cm of cake ribbon
• 2 egg whites, fresh
• 180 grams icing sugar/ powder sugar

1. Heat oven to 160 C and double line a deep 20 cm cake tin with baking parchment.Tie a few sheets of old newspaper around the outside ,level with parchment.Heat 2 tbls of brandy in a small pan and infuse the saffron for a few minutes whilst,off the heat.Put the butter,sugar,eggs,flour ,almonds ,baking powder and a pinch of salt into s bowl mix until soft and creamy.Mix the saffron brandy,fruit and nuts and mix well into the batter.
2. Spoon the mixture into prepared tin,make a slight dip in the middle.Bake for one and a half hours,covered loosely with foil,turn oven down to 140C and cook for one more hour or until skewer comes out clean.Leave to cool in tin ,whilst still warm prod the cake all over with skewer,mix brandy and honey together and spoon over cake.Wrap up airtight and feed cake with more honey and brandy mixture as often as you like.This cake can be made up to 6 weeks in advance.
3. for decoration and frosting: lightly beat eggwhite .Spread out extrs fine /castor sugar on a baking sheet.Dip the grapes and holly in eggwhite then coat with the sugar then make the frosting.Put a large bowl over a pan of simmering water,make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.Put the 2 eggwhites and icing sugar into bowl whisk for 5-7 minutes until you have a thick very glossy frosting,folding all mixture in as you go along.Spread over cake creating snow like effect.Half the other fruits and arrange on top of cake,fix ribbon around base.
4. the lighter ( no marzipan, no iicing) decoration and frosting is best made on the day that you serve the cake.

butter, brandy, saffron, golden castor sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder, raisins, cherries, mixed peel, hazelnuts, walnut, brandy, honey, eggwhite, sugar, black grapes, holly, clementines, just, kumquats, cape gooseberries, cake ribbon, egg whites, sugar

Taken from cookpad.com/us/recipes/334202-sigs-lighter-yuletide-cake (may not work)