Ingredients
Boiled fruit cake:
- 300g raisins and cranberries, mixed
- 375g currants
- 375g sultanas
- 150g pecan nuts, chopped
- 200g glace cherries
- 375ml sugar
- 190ml water
- 270g butter
- 750ml cake flour, sifted
- 7.5ml salt
- 7.5ml bicarbonate of soda
- 10ml ginger, ground
- 5ml cinnamon, ground
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 125ml brandy
Apricot jam:
- 100g apricots, dried
- 250ml water
- 150g sugar
- 60ml lemon juice
Marzipan:
- 675g almonds, ground
- 340g castor sugar
- 340g icing sugar, sifted
- 12.5ml lemon juice
- 12.5ml vanilla essence
- 12.5ml rum
- 7 egg yolks
Fondant:
- 3 3/4 tbsp gelatine
- 250ml water
- 60ml glycerine
- 375ml liquid glucose
- 3kg icing sugar, sifted
- food colouring, green
- food colouring, pink
- food colouring, blue
- food colouring, black
- food colouring, purple
- food colouring, orange
Assembly and decoration:
- 150g speckled chocolate eggs
Preparation method
Boiled fruit cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180 C and spray an 18cm tin and a 12cm tin
- Combine the fruit, nuts, sugar, water, butter and place over medium heat
- Once the butter has melted, increase the heat and boil for 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and place in a bowl over an ice bath, to cool completely
- Stir together the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon
- Mix in the eggs to the cooled fruit mixture
- Fold in the flour mix and brandy
- Divide between the prepared pans, filling them to three quarters full
- Bake for 90-120 minutes
- Cool in tins for 20 minutes, then turn out and fully cool on a wire rack
Apricot jam:
- Combine the apricots, water and lemon juice over medium heat
- Simmer until thick and the apricots have broken down
Marzipan:
- Stir together the almonds, castor sugar and icing sugar
- Stir together the lemon juice, vanilla, rum, and 6 of the egg yolks
- Add to the almond mix and stir until bound
- Knead the dough a bit and if it is too crumbly, add the 7th egg yolk
- Wrap in plastic and set aside
Fondant:
- Sprinkle the gelatine over the cold water and soak until spongy
- Stand the bowl over the hot water and stir until the gelatine dissolves
- Stir in the glycerine and glucose
- Put the icing sugar into a bowl and make a well in the centre
- Slowly pour in the liquid, stirring
- Colour half of the fondant with the green food colouring
- With the remaining half, colour as needed for decorating
Assembly and decoration:
- Roll the marzipan thinly
- Brush the sides of the cake with some reheated jam
- Cover cake with marzipan, then cover with reheated jam
- Cover with rolled out green fondant
- Use remaining fondant to create Easter decorations
- Decorate cake using fondant decorations and speckled chocolate eggs