Simnel fruit cake

SERVES 12 PREP AND COOK TIME 2 HOURS

2 cups (300g) plain flour 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground allspice 375g butter, at room temperature 1½ cups (330g) firmly packed brown sugar finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon 5 eggs, at room temperature 2½ cups (400g) sultanas 1/3 cup (55g) mixed peel 500g ready to roll marzipan 2 tablespoons apricot jam, warmed 1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan-forced). Grease a deep 20cm round cake pan, line the base and sides with a double layer of baking paper, extending 5cm above the pan. 2 Sift the flours and spices into a medium bowl. 3 Beat butter and sugar in electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add lemon rind and the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. On low speed, gradually fold in the flour mixture, then the lemon juice. Stir in the sultanas and mixed peel. 4 Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, level the surface. Bake for about 1 hour 40 minutes, loosely covering top with foil after 1 hour if overbrowning. Test if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the middle comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Cover cake with a clean tea towel, leave to cool upside down in the cake pan. 5 Roll out half of the marzipan between 2 pieces of baking paper to about 3mm thick. Use cake tin as a guide to cut out a circle slightly larger than cake. Make 11 balls of marzipan from remaining marzipan. Brush top of cake with warmed jam. Place the disc of marzipan on top and place the 11 balls around the edge. If desired, use a chef’s blowtorch to caramelise top of cake. Uniced cake suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.