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Enchanted forest Christmas cake

• Mary Cadogan

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Cuts into 12-15 slices

More effort

Prep: 1 hr and 45 mins

Cook: 3 hrs - 3 hrs and 30 mins

plus cooling

A star rating of 4 out of 5.2 ratingsRate

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A stunning cake that uses the 'boiling method' to plump up dried fruit. Decorate with pistachio paste trees and swirles of fluffy icing

Freezable (un-iced)

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

• 200g butter

  plus extra for greasing

• 200g light muscovado sugar

• 200g ready-to-eat dried apricot

• 200g ready-to-eat dried raisin

• 200g ready-to-eat dried cranberries

  or cherries

• 100g dried fig

• 100g mixed peel

• finely grated zest and juice 1 orange

• finely grated zest 1 lemon

• 100ml Cointreau

  or orange liqueur

• 100g blanched almond

• 100g shelled pistachio

• 3 large eggs

  beaten

• 250g plain flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp ground mixed spice

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 2 tbsp orange flower water

For the pistachio paste

• 100g shelled pistachio

• 100g icing sugar

  sifted, plus extra for rolling out and dusting

• 100g golden caster sugar

• 100g ground almond

• few drops almond extract

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1 tsp lemon juice

• green food colouring

For the icing

• 2 large egg whites

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 2 tsp liquid glucose

• 500g icing sugar

  sifted

To finish

• 1 tbsp apricot jam

• 3cm wide ribbon

• cocktail sticks

• silver balls

• icing sugar

  for dusting

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Nutrition: per slice (15)

• kcal738
• fat27g
• saturates9g
• carbs108g
• sugars90g
• fibre6g
• protein11g
• salt0.4g

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Method

• step 1

  Chop the butter and put in a large pan with the sugar. Chop the apricots and figs and add to the pan with the cranberries or cherries & raisins, orange and lemon zests, orange juice and orange liqueur.

• step 2

  Heat slowly, stirring, until the butter has melted and the mixture has come to a slow simmer, then simmer for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly coloured. Cool slightly, then tip half the almonds and half the pistachios into the food processer and grind to a fine powder. Roughly chop the remaining almonds (keep the pistachios whole).

• step 3

  Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Grease and double-line the base and sides of a 20cm-deep cake tin with baking parchment.

• step 4

  Stir the chopped and ground nuts and the eggs into the cooled mixture. Set a sieve over the pan and sift in the flour, baking powder and spices. Stir in gently until the flour is well mixed in. Stir in the orange flower water.

• step 5

  Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 2 hrs, then reduce the heat to 140C/120C fan/gas 1 and cook for a further 1-1½ hrs until the cake is dark golden and firm to touch. If the cake starts to become too dark, place 2 sheets of foil loosely on top.

• step 6

  To test it is cooked through, insert a fine skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean with no uncooked cake stuck to the skewer, it is cooked. If not, cook for a further 15 mins and test again.

• step 7

  Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 30 mins, then turn out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack. Wrap in 2 sheets of baking parchment, then overwrap in foil. Will keep for 3 months, or freeze for up to a year.

• step 8

  To make the pistachio paste, grind the nuts as finely as possible in a blender or food processor. Tip into a bowl with the sugars and ground almonds. Add a few drops of almond extract, the egg yolks and lemon juice, and mix to a firm dough, using your hands to work the mixture into a ball.

• step 9

  Knead the dough to a fairly smooth ball, then cut off a third and wrap in cling film. Dust the work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the remaining paste to a little larger than the top of the cake. Brush the cake thinly with apricot jam and cover with the paste. Trim off excess using a sharp knife in a downward movement around the side of the cake.

• step 10

  Add a few drops of green food colour to the remaining pistachio paste to make it green. To make a tree, pinch off a small piece of paste and flatten between your fingers to a rough round. Place on a tray dusted with icing sugar. Make a smaller round and place on top, slightly offcentre. Continue to build up the tree, then top with a tiny paste cone. Repeat to make 7 trees in varying sizes. Leave to dry for several hours or overnight in a cool dry place. To make the icing, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice and glucose in a mixing bowl. Gradually sift in the icing sugar, beating all the time to make a stiff icing that forms peaks.

• step 11

  Tie the ribbon round the cake. Thread a cocktail stick through a tree base, then thread on the tree, leaving a little of the stick showing at the base to attach to the cake. Swirl the icing thickly over the cake, forming peaks and teasing it over the sides. Stick the trees into the top of the cake and scatter over a handful of silver balls. Dust the trees thickly with icing sugar.

RECIPE TIPS

TO FEED YOUR ENCHANTED FOREST CAKE

Feeding the cake keeps it moist and adds flavour. Invert the cake and prick all over with a fine skewer. Spoon 2 tbsp orange liqueur (or use Sherry or brandy if you prefer) over the cake and leave it to soak in. Rewrap and repeat each week or so for a maximum of 4 weeks. Do not feed the cake in the final week before icing.

FOR AN ALCOHOL-FREE ENCHANTED FOREST CAKE

Simply replace the orange liqueur with fresh orange juice. The cake will keep for 1-2 weeks.

MARY CADOGAN'S ENCHANTED FOREST CAKE

"This cake is a little lighter than the classic, but still has all the flavours you’d expect. I created my first Christmas cake for BBC Good Food in 1998, followed by another in 2002, and I know many readers have relied on one of these recipes ever since. Like my previous recipes, this cake is made by the boiling method, which I find plumps up the fruits beautifully and keeps the cake from drying out during the long, slow cooking. I have decorated the cake with children in mind. Each tree is made up of rounds of pistachio paste, perfect for little fingers, and if the paste cracks, that just adds to the realism!" Mary Cadogan

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2013

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A star rating of 4 out of 5.2 ratings

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