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Chocolate Christmas Cake

800g mixed fruit ( mixture of chopped figs, apricots, cranberries, sultanas etc)
250ml stout
175g soft butter
200g dark brown sugar
4 eggs
125g ground almonds
50g cornflour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and a half teaspoons mixed spice
½ teaspoon allspice
Zest 1 orange
100g chopped dark chocolate

Method

Soak the fruit in the stout overnight.

Set oven to 150oc.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and then add the almonds, cornflour and spices. Mix well and then mix in the orange zest and chocolate.

Spoon into a cake tin greased and lined with parchment paper. Line the outside of the tin with a ribbon of parchment paper and tie with string.

Bake for about 3 hours or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Cool and then remove from tin. Wrap in parchment and keep until Christmas – no need to feed with alcohol.

Vanilla Marzipan

100g castor sugar
100g icing sugar
225g ground almonds
1 egg
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Place the castor sugar in a bowl and sift in the icing sugar. Mix in the almonds and then bind with the egg, orange juice and vanilla.

Place on a surface dusted with icing sugar and knead gently to bring together.

Roll a circle to about 1 cm thick and place on top of the cool cake.

Trim and cut out festive shapes and place on top.Glaze with a blow torch and garnish with golden balls and dust lightly with icing sugar.