Individual Christmas Cakes

Try decorating your finished Christmas cakes with tinsel and ribbon.

Serves
9
Preparation time
90 minutes
Cooking time
165 minutes

Ingredients

For the cakes

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 250g raisins
  • 450g sultanas
  • 800g currants
  • 225g glacé cherries, halved
  • 100g mixed peel
  • 150g stem ginger, finely chopped
  • 6 tbsp brandy or rum
  • 225g pecan nuts, chopped
  • 200g cranberry sauce
  • finely grated zest of 2 oranges
  • 500g plain flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 450g butter, softened
  • 450g soft brown sugar
  • 12 large eggs

To decorate

  • 340g apricot jam
  • 1kg marzipan
  • icing sugar, to dust
  • 1kg white fondant icing
  • 1-2 drops pink food colouring
  • 2 tbsp water, brandy, rum or whisky
  • length of ribbon or tinsel

Method

  1. To prepare to make the individual cakes, lightly oil and line a 30cm square cake tin with non-stick baking paper. 
  2. Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, cherries, mixed peel and ginger into a large bowl, and pour the brandy or rum over. Cover and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
  3. Stir the pecans, cranberry sauce and orange zest into the dried fruit mixture, then sift over the flour with the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
  4. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, with a tablespoon of the flour mixture. Beat well after each addition. Fold in the remaining flour with the fruit mixture and combine well. Spoon into the prepared tin, level the top with the back of a spoon and bake for about 2 hours 45 minutes, or until a metal skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Allow to rest in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. Cut the cake into 9 (7.5cm) squares, using a ruler to ensure that you get even measurements. 
  6. To decorate the cakes, spoon the jam into a pan and warm gently until it melts. Working one cake at a time, brush a little jam over the top and sides. Divide the marzipan into 9 balls. Roll each ball flat on a clean surface, lightly dusted with icing sugar, to a square large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake. Smooth the marzipan over the cake, so it sticks to it. Trim any excess and add to the rest of the balls. 
  7. When you have covered all the cakes, wrap them in cling film and leave to harden for 2 days in a cool, dry place. 
  8. Once the cakes have hardened, divide the fondant icing into 9 equal balls (you can colour some of the balls with the pink food colouring at this stage). Roll out the icing on a surface, lightly dusted with icing sugar, to a square slightly larger than the cake. Brush the cake with the water or alcohol. Lift the rolled-out icing over the cake and smooth it over the top and the sides. Trim away any excess and reserve for decorating.
  9. Decorate your cakes, as desired, using various icing shapes and lengths of pretty ribbon and gold and silver tinsel. Eat within 2 months.

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