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| Recipe Archive > Cakes & Biscuits > |
 Carol Pastor's Spiced Wine Christmas Cake & Parcel Bow Stencil
The recipe for this rich fruit cake makes an ideal size for the Whitworths Christmas Parcel Bow Icing Sugar Stencil (see below).
Equipment & Ingredients
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75g / 3oz glace cherries |
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175g / 6oz Whitworths light muscovado sugar |
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100g / 4oz self-raising flour |
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1 level tsp mixed spice |
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75g / 3oz ground almonds |
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Apricot jam sieved and warmed |
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1½lb ready - made marzipan |
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450g / 1lb Whitworths icing sugar, finely sifted |
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15g / ½oz Whitworths icing sugar, finely sifted for the Christmas stencil |
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Method
Stage 1
Place the dried fruits into a medium sized mixing bowl with the cherries and the peel. Add the sherry and stir until the fruit is well covered. Cover the bowl with kitchen film and leave for 3 days, turning the fruit every 24 hours to distribute the juices evenly.
Stage 2
Beat the butter and sugar until they are light and creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour, salt, spice and ground almonds. Drain the fruit (it will have soaked up most of the sherry), but any excess may be regarded as cook's perks!), and stir it lightly into the cake mixture until lightly blended. Spoon into the prepared tin and carefully smooth the top with a knife.
Stage 3
Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C / 325°F / gas mark 3, for one hour. Reduce the temperature to 150°C / 300°F / gas mark 2 for a further 1½ hours, with the cake loosely covered in foil to prevent it from browning too much. Leave the cake in the tin until it is completely cool. Peel away the lining paper and wrap it well in soft kitchen paper before storing it in an air-tight tin. For an extra moist cake, unwrap it once or twice and feed the underside and sides of the cake with 2 tbls of brandy.
Stage 4
Cover with marzipan. Use a pastry brush to paint the cake with the sieved and warmed apricot jam. Roll out the marzipan on a sheet of greaseproof paper dusted with icing sugar. Roll it a little larger than the cake and cut it to size, using the cake tin as a guide to make the top and side pieces. Press the pieces gently down onto the cake so that they stick evenly over the surface. Smooth over the cake with a rolling pin, carefully working the marzipan into shape around the edge and sides with the palms of your hands. Use a sharp knife to cut off the surplus. Leave for two days covered loosely with a clean tea cloth to dry out, then cover with icing sugar.
Stage 5
To make the icing. Put the sifted icing sugar in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the lightly beaten egg whites. Beat until stiff and glossy. Cover the cake with the icing using a palette knife to make it perfectly smooth. When the icing has set, cover loosely with a fresh dry tea cloth until Christmas.
Stage 6
Add the Whitworths parcel bow stencil to the surface of the cake and dust with sifted icing sugar. Remove the stencil carefully and the cake is ready to serve.
Timings
Stage (1) - (3) Properly made and stored this cake improves with maturity. Make about one month to several weeks ahead
Stage (4) One week ahead.
Stage (5) 5 days ahead.
Stage( 6) Just before serving
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Click here for stencil
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