Irish Christmas Cake

In Preparation

Dice the dates and halve the cocktail cherries. Put this together with the raisins and sultanas in a bowl and allow to steep in 100ml of brandy overnight. The fruits should completely absorb the liquid.

For the Dough

Whip the butter together with the brown sugar until creamy. Gradually add the eggs and stir in. Now add the sugar beet syrup, the orange juice and orange zest to the mixture.

Mix the flour along with the baking powder, spices and the ground almonds together. Add the dry ingredients in two portions to the bowl and stir in carefully. Finally, add the fruits that have absorbed the brandy and carefully fold them into the dough.

Put the dough in a greased baking pan (20cm in diameter) lined with baking paper and allow to bake in a preheated oven at 150°C top/bottom heat for 2.5 to 3 hours.

Before removing the cake from the oven, stick a wooden skewer into the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is ready. If there are crumbs or dough stuck to the skewer, the cake needs to be in the oven for longer.

The surface of the cake can be loosely covered with baking paper to prevent it from browning too much. Prick the warm cake on the surface with a fork and soak it with 50ml brandy. This process can be repeated for up to 7 days if desired.

For Decoration

Before decorating the cake, the cake topper is cut off so that a flat surface is created. The cake is then brushed with apricot jam using a baking brush.

Roll out the marzipan on some powdered sugar and then place over the cake. Now brush the cake with apricot jam again.

Thinly roll out the fondant and place over the cake. CMC powder can be added to the fondant to help it to harden.

Decorative elements can then be added with snowflake cutters. Some of these snowflakes can be pained with gold food colouring. The snowflakes should dry for several hours before placing them on the cake.