Festive Christmas Fruitcake With Nuts

Total Time: 2 hrs 35 mins Preparation Time: 35 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, at room temp
• 5 ounces light muscovado sugar
• 6 large beaten eggs
• 1 1/4 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 marzipan
• 2 ounces whole skinned hazelnuts
• 2 ounces blanched almonds
• 3 ounces brazil nuts
• 3 ounces sliced almonds
• 5 ounces whole glace cherries
• 1/2 cup golden syrup or 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 meter of wide ribbon

Recipe

• 1 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.
• 2 beat butter, sugar, egss, flour, ground almonds and spices until thoroughly mixed and creamy, preferably with an electric beater or in a food mixer.
• 3 measure 1/2 cup of the cake batter, put into a bowl and set aside.
• 4 fold in the fruit and rum into the remaining mixture, then gently stir in the marzipan.
• 5 spoon this into the prepared cake pan and smoothen out with a spatula.
• 6 then make a slight dip in the center of the cake.
• 7 this will give the finished cake a nice flat top.
• 8 bake for 1 1/4 hours.
• 9 meanwhile, make the fruit and nut topping.
• 10 mix all the nuts, cherries and syrup into the remaining cake mixture.
• 11 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.
• 12 loosely cover the top of the pan with foil.
• 13 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.
• 14 keep an eye on them, so they don't get too dark or burn.
• 15 to test the cake, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, if it comes out clean then it's ready.
• 16 cool in the pan and then turn out, keeping the lining on, and wrap with foil.
• 17 (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.
• 18 place on a board or serving plate and tie with a decorative ribbon.