Home > Seasonal Recipes > Easter > Cakes, Cheesecakes and Buns > Easter Fruit Cake
Easter Fruit Cake
Ingredients
14oz (400g) mixed dried fruit
6oz (150g) glace cherries (quartered)
4oz (100g) dates, chopped
4oz (100g) butter
6oz (150g) dark brown soft sugar
½ a tsp. of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp. mixed spice
½ a pint (285ml milk)
12oz (350g) self raising flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tbsp. apricot jam
8oz (225g) ready to roll white icing
9oz (250g) white marzipan
A little icing sugar (sifted)
2-3 drops each of pink and green food colourings
Method
Place the fruits, spice, sugar, milk and bicarbonate of soda into a large pan. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool to blood-heat. Sift the flower and salt and stir into mixture with the eggs. Turn into a greased double-lined 8in (20cm) cake tin. Smooth the surface and hollow out centre slightly.
Heat oven to 325ºF, Gas Mark 3, 170ºC and bake cake in the centre for 45 minutes then at 300ºF, Gas Mark 2, 150ºC for about a further 50 minutes. To see if the cake is cooked a skewer pushed into the middle should come out clean. Cool the cake in its tin then transfer to a wire rack and remove greaseproof paper.
Spread top of cake with jam. Using a little icing sifted icing sugar, lightly knead the icing, then roll out to fit just inside cake top. Trim round quarter inch (5mm) from the edge to allow for pink marzipan. Cut marzipan into three pieces. Colour first piece pink and knead thoroughly. Measure circumference of cake with string then roll pink marzipan by hand to the same length. Lift on to cake, pressing neatly to the white icing edge then trim ends and join. Colour second piece green, roll out to the same length. Roll out third piece likewise and twist them together.
Lay twist around cake, just inside pink roll then trim ends and join. Tie a ribbon or fix a cake band around cake.
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