Recipe

FIRST CLASS FRUITCAKE LONDON, UK, 1947

Mark the Queen’s platnium anniversary by recreating her wedding cake

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh mark their platinum wedding anniversary on 20 November. Their marriage at Westminster Abbey 70 years ago was followed by a reception at Buckingham Palace. Even in the opulent palace ballroom, the royal wedding cake stood out. Nine feet high, it was made up of four tiers of fruitcake, decorated with both families’ coats-of-arms, the couple’s monograms, sugar-iced figures depicting their favourite activities, and military insignias.

However, the towering treat was put together during a time of post-war austerity, when food rationing was still in force in Britain. So, to make the elaborate cake, Commonwealth nations gave ingredients as wedding gifts, including Demerara sugar from Trinidad, butter, almonds and frozen eggs from the Australian Girl Guides, and rum and brandy from South Africa. The following recipe is for a fruitcake similar to that which the royal couple would have enjoyed.

Ingredients

For one 30cm cake tier

400g currants

560g raisins

840g sultanas 3 tablespoons rum 3 tablespoons brandy 1/2 orange (juice) 2 oranges (zest)

375g unsalted butter 225g brown sugar

150g caster sugar

4 tsp vanilla essence 12 eggs

450g self-raising flour 1tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tbsp black treacle

Method

Begin your royal wedding cake by mixing all of the dried fruit with generous measures of brandy and rum. Leave for at least 24 hours (or up to a week!) so that the fruit absorbs the liquid. Add the juice of 1/2 an orange at the end of the soaking time.

When it’s time to start baking, being by setting your oven to 160ºc/325ºf. Then take a 30cm/12” round baking tin and double-line it with baking parchment on the inside as well as the outside of the tin. Make a small parchment lid to place on top, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat your butter, sugars and vanilla essence together until light and fluffy and then beat in the orange zest.

Gradually whisk in the eggs, adding one at a time, until it’s well combined and then in a separate bowl sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices together.

Fold the wet ingredients and dry ingredients together, and then combine with the soaked fruit and treacle. Mix well to ensure everything is well combined.

Transfer your cake mix to your double-lined baking tin and smooth out the surface of the mixture. The layers of greaseproof paper will protect your cake from burning over the long cook time.

Bake the cake for around 4.5 hours, rotating a few times in the oven (to ensure an even bake) until a skewer comes out clean from the middle of the cake.

Leave it for two minutes before removing the cake from the tin, and then leave it to completely cool down on a wire rack.

To complete your royal wedding cake, you can repeat this recipe to bake multiple tiers. Thanks to the alcohol content the cake keeps very well, so you can focus on planning your elaborate sugar craft decoration and building a masterpiece fit for a princess.