Here’s how to make it…

Ingredients:

• 500g dried mixed fruit
• 400g plain flour
• 300g marzipan
• 300g white fondant icing
• 200g dark brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 300ml spiced rum
• 300ml sunflower oil
• 200ml unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• A squeeze of orange juice

Method:

• Begin by soaking the dried fruit. Add the dried fruit to a large bowl. Pour 200ml of the spiced rum on top. Stir to combine then cover the bowl with cling film or a clean tea towel
• Store in a cupboard for at least 24 hours to allow the flavour to develop. For a more intense taste, leave up to 1 week
• Once the dried fruit has been soaked, preheat the oven to 140 degrees (gas mark 2)
• Grease a 20 x 20cm cake tin with a little sunflower oil and set to one side
• Add all of the dry cake mixture ingredients to a bowl
• Add all of the wet cake mixture ingredients, apart from the soaked dried fruit, to a measuring jug
• Pour the wet cake mixture ingredients in to the dry cake mixture ingredients and stir to combine
• Add the soaked dried fruit, including any liquid which may not have been absorbed, to the mixture and stir to combine
• Gently pour the batter in to the cake tin
• Put the cake tin in the pre-heated oven and bake for 1 hour
• Remove the cake from the oven and cover it with kitchen foil. Return it to the oven for a further hour, or until a skewer can be inserted in the centre and removed cleanly
• Once baked, remove from the oven and set to one side. Allow to cool before removing from the tin and transferring to an airtight container
• Brush the top and sides of the cake with a little of the remaining spiced rum. Repeat this once a week for 2-3 weeks
• Line an area of work surface with a sheet of baking paper. Place the marzipan on top of the baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the marzipan to create a square slightly larger than the Christmas cake around 5mm thick
• Lay the marzipan on top of the Christmas cake. Gently smooth down the sides then remove any excess marzipan
• Line a work surface with another sheet of baking paper. Place the fondant icing on top of the baking paper. Roll out the fondant icing to create a square slightly larger than the Christmas cake around 5mm thick
• Lay the fondant icing on top of the marzipan. Gently smooth down the sides then remove any excess fondant icing
• Decorate with festive trimmings for a final flourish

This recipe serves 16.