Christmas Cake with Cider

Christmas cake with rudolph and christmas tree design

This rich fruity Christmas cake is made with cider instead of rum or brandy. It makes a super moist cake and has become my favourite Christmas cake recipe.

Course cake, Dessert

Cuisine British

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 3

Decorating Time 40

Total Time 4 20

Servings

Calories 609kcal

Author Corina Blum

Ingredients

200 g sultanas
400 g raisins
250 g prunes
100 g dates
150 g dried apricots
200 g glace cherries
2 dessert apples peeled and diced
600 ml cider
4 teaspoon mixed spice
200 g unsalted butter at room temperature
175 g soft brown sugar
3 eggs
150 g ground almonds
280 g plain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder

For the Decoration

400 g marzipan
3 tablespoon jam
500 g royal icing sugar
Designer icing tubes in various colours

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Put all the dried fruit, mixed spice and cider in a large saucepan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Leave in the pan overnight and the fruit will absorb the rest of the liquid.
Line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
Put the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Use an electric whisk if possible. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Fold in the fruit and the ground almonds. Sift in the flour and baking powder and then fold in too.
Put the cake batter into the cake tin and bake in the oven at 160°C for 2.5 hours. Test the cake with skewer and if it comes out with sticky batter still on it then return it to the oven. My cake needed 3 hours.
Let the cake cool a little in the tin and then turn it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
If you want to keep the cake for a while before eating it then wrap it up well in foil and keep it in an airtight container. You can keep it for up to 8 weeks.
When you are ready to decorate the cake, put the jam in a small bowl and heat in the microwave or a small saucepan until runny. Brush it over the cake.
Roll out the marzipan and cover the cake with it.
Make the royal icing according to the pack instructions. I just needed to whisk mine with a little water. When it begins to form stiff peaks then spread it over the cake with a palette knife. I chose a rough snow effect for the top by tapping the palette knife up and down on the icing. I smoothed the sides carefully with the knife so I could draw on them
I used the designer icing to draw reindeer and Christmas trees on the sides of the cake but of course you could draw anything you wanted.

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate and a guideline only.

Nutrition

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