Boozy Christmas Cake

For the fruit soaker

600 g luxury dried fruit (a mix of raisins, currants, sultanas, cranberries, mixed peel)

200 g glacé cherries, halved, rinsed and thoroughly dried

120 g pitted dates, chopped

80 g crystallised ginger, chopped

Zest 1 orange

Zest 1 lemon

250 ml brandy (Get at least one 70cl bottle, as you’ll need the rest for the tipple/feed)

250 ml sherry or madeira

250 ml orange juice

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp almond extract

For the Cake

250 g butter, softened

250 g light or dark muscavado sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp black treacle

75 g blanched almonds, chopped

250 g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

For the decoration/cake covering

150 g apricot jam

1 KG marzipan

1 KG ready-to-roll icing

Icing sugar, for dusting

Get started on the soaker at least 7 days before you want to make the cake. Put all the soaker ingredients in a large bowl and mix very well. Leave covered in a cool, dry place for 7 days and give a stir every 2 days.

After 7 days, grease and line a 23cm/9inch deep cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper (bottom and sides). Tip the fruit soaker into a sieve and leave to drain without pressing down (don’t tip the liquid away! It’s beautiful. Keep this and use for other things, make a syrup, or use in a mince pie filling!). Preheat your oven to 120 C fan.

Put the butter, sugar and treacle into a mixing bowl and beat until pale and fluffy (15 mins). Slowly add the eggs one by one, beating for a few minutes between each egg. Add the almonds, flour, ground mixed spice and ground ginger and mix very gently. Fold in the soaker fruit.

Pour the mix into the prepared tin and level surface. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 4 hours, or until firm, rich golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

As soon as the cake is out of the oven, leave it in the tin and pierce the cake all over several times with a skewer and evenly drizzle around 5-6 TBSP brandy. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack in the tin and let it soak up the booze.

When the cake is completely cold, remove from the tin without removing the lining paper and wrap in another double layer of greaseproof paper and then again in one layer of foil. (You don’t remove the lining paper when storing as this helps to keep the cake moist.) Pop in an airtight container and leave in a cool, dry place until 1 week before you want to serve, and keep feeding the cake with a few TBSP brandy once a week.

1.5 weeks before you want to serve, stop feeding the cake, to ensure its not too damp on the outside for decorating. The week before you want to serve, begin covering the cake.

To begin covering the cake, unwrap it and discard the greaseproof paper and foil. Put your cake on a serving plate or board. Put your apricot jam in a small pan and bring to the boil. Brush the entire cake with the boiled jam

Dust your work surface with a little icing sugar and gently knead your marzipan until its warm and pliable. Roll out your marzipan around £1 thick and large enough to cover the entire cake. Place it over the glazed cake and gently smooth it down so it sticks nicely.

Take your icing and do exactly as you did with the marzipan (knead and roll only). Just before placing the icing on top of your cake, brush the marzipan with boiled water or a strong spirit alcohol (like brandy or whisky). This is to prevent the cake from going bad from any moisture and to allow the icing to stick. Place the icing over the cake and smooth down so this sticks. Trim the edges neatly for a clean finish.

You will likely have leftover icing and marzipan. Feel free to get creative with this to add any further decorations on top. Enjoy!