Traditional Christmas cake

Ingredients

For the cake
500g/1lb 2oz sultanas
255g/9oz lexia raisins
200g/7oz glacé cherries, halved
110g/4oz currants
110g/4oz mixed peel, chopped
110g/4oz ready-to-eat dried figs, roughly chopped
110g/4oz ready-to-eat dried apricots, roughly chopped
110g/4oz ready to-eat dried pitted prunes, roughly chopped
150ml/5fl oz brandy
1 small orange, juice and grated zest
255g/9oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
200g/7oz dark muscovado sugar
5 medium free-range eggs
300g/10½oz plain flour
200g/7oz macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
For the decoration
3 tbsp apricot jam
500g/1lb 2oz white marzipan
140g/5oz ready-to-roll white icing
500g/1lb 2oz royal icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
edible silver balls, to decorate

Method

1. Place the sultanas, raisins, glacé cherries, currants, mixed peel, dried figs, dried apricots and dried prunes into a large mixing bowl. Pour over the brandy and orange juice and sprinkle over the orange zest. Mix until well combined, then cover the bowl with cling film and set aside overnight.
2. Line the base and sides of a 23cm/9in cake tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper. (NB: The paper should reach 4-5cm/1½-2in above the top of the tin.) Wrap a sheet of folded newspaper around the outside of the tin and secure with string. Line a baking tray with a folded sheet of newspaper and place the prepared cake tin onto the baking tray. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
4. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating in a little of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
5. Pour in the soaked fruit, soaking liquid and nuts and mix until well combined. Stir in the flour, taking care not to overmix the cake batter.
6. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and level the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake for 3-4 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. (NB: If the top of the cake starts to darken too much during cooking, cover the cake with a sheet of greaseproof paper.
7. When the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool completely in the tin. Remove the cake from the cake tin. Store cake in an airtight container, wrapped in greaseproof paper and aluminium foil, for two to three months. Feed the cake with brandy every 2-3 weeks until you're ready to decorate it.
8. For the decoration, strain the jam through a sieve into a pan. Warm the jam with one tablespoon of water over a low heat until melted.
9. Invert the cake and place onto a serving plate or chopping board. Pinch off small pieces of the marzipan and use to fill any gaps between the cake and the plate.
10. Brush the melted jam all over the cake.
11. Roll out the remaining marzipan onto a lightly dusted work surface until it is twice the diameter of the cake.
12. Carefully lift the marzipan onto the cake, pressing it down around the sides. Trim off any excess with a sharp knife.
13. Roll out the ready-to-roll icing to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness and cut out as many star shapes as you can using a star-shaped cookie cutter. Re-roll the offcuts and continue to cut out as many stars as possible until all of the icing has been used up. Set the stars aside on a sheet of greaseproof paper until hardened.
14. Meanwhile, make up the royal icing according to the packet instructions. Spread the icing all over the cake until completely covered, then create rough peaks all over it using a spatula.
15. Arrange the stars on top of the icing, then sprinkle over the silver balls. Set aside until completely set, then dust the cake with the remaining icing sugar.