Ingredients

  • 375 g golden raisins
  • 100 ml Grand Marnier
  • 4 eggs
  • 300 g plain flour
  • 375 g unsalted butter
  • 300 g dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 lemon, juice of
  • 375 g dried apricots
  • 375 g sultanas
  • 200 g mixed peel
  • 100 g red glace cherries
  • 150 g walnut halves
  • 150 g whole roasted hazelnuts
  • Icing
  • 1 (340 g) jar apricot jam
  • 1 kg ready made marzipan
  • 1 kg easy roll icing
  • 250 g icing sugar
  • 1 egg, separated
  • edible food coloring

Method

  • Place raisins in a bowl. Add enough grand Marnier/Cointreau to cover them. Cover bowl and leave for 24 hours.
  • Preheat oven to 150°C.
  • In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, cream together the butter and sugar.
  • Add the eggs one at a time. If mixture looks a bit like splitting, add a little flour.
  • Add sifted flour, mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and Grand Marnier. Mix together.
  • Gently fold in soaked raisins, dried chopped apricots, sultanas, chopped peel, cherries, walnuts and hazelnuts.
  • Spoon the cake mix into 2 greased and lined 22cm spring form tins.
  • Bake cakes for 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours.
  • Remove and cool on wire rack. Once cool spray with more alcohol and wrap in cling film. Keep cakes in cool dry place until you ice/decorate them.
  • ICING: Gently heat jam until spreadable. Spread over top and edges of cake.
  • Roll out marzipan very thinly to the circumference of cake, also a strip around width of cake.
  • Place marzipan on cake-gently pinch strip around top and side to stick them together. Repeat this with the icing. Mix together icing sugar, egg white and a few drops of food colouring into a smooth paste. Put into icing bag and decorate as desired.