Christmas cake experiment
So my Christmas cake this year followed my more-or-less standard recipe – Delia’s – with a few variations. I added the whole tub of cherries (and kept them whole) and the whole tub of mixed candied peel. I also added extra brandy in the soaking stage, and about 200g of ground almonds. After cooking it (the first cake I’ve tried my gas oven) I fed it with more brandy for several weeks.
It got iced a couple of days ago – I used ready-rolled marzipan and icing as I’m fundamentally quite lazy. Apricot jam is melted and used to attach the marzipan, and water to help the icing stick. I smoothed over the (barely visible) joins in the icing by rubbing icing sugar in. And the leftover marzipan and icing? Well, with the aid of a few currants and a toothpick for stability a rather jolly little snowman appeared! The verdict? A good cake – excellently moist and boozy!