Christmas pudding cake

Serves 12 Prep: 30 min Cook: 1 hr 15 min

For the pudding

175g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

50g glacé cherries

40g 70%-cocoa dark chocolate 125g self-raising flour 1½tsp ground cinnamon or mixed spice

15g cocoa powder

35g ground almonds

175g golden caster sugar

3 large free-range eggs Zest and juice of 1 orange 50g chopped nuts (optional) For the icing

100g white chocolate, broken into squares

3tbsp double cream

Few drops of almond essence 1 preheat the oven to180c/ gas 4. grease and line a 1ltr ovenproof bowl. chop the glacé cherries, leaving 3 whole for later. melt half the dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and chop up the rest. 2 sift the flour, spice and cocoa into a bowl. add the ground almonds, butter, sugar, eggs and zest, and whisk until smooth. mix in 2tbsp orange juice. fold in the chopped cherries, melted and chopped chocolate and nuts, if using, then spoon into the ovenproof bowl. level the surface. 3 bake for 30 min, then cover with greaseproof paper and bake for another 45 min, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. leave to cool for 5 min, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely. 4 for the icing, place the white chocolate, cream and almond essence in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. heat gently until melted. stir to combine. 5 spoon the icing over the cake, place the whole glacé cherries on top and finish with a couple of holly leaves.