Three tier fruit wedding cake - recipe
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Prepare
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Serves
3 -
Cook
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Skill
Advanced
Ingredients
For the 12cm square/15cm round cake
- 225 g Currants
- 100 g Sultanas
- 100 g Raisins
- 50 g Glace cherries
- 25 g Mixed peel
- 2 tbsp Brandy
- 175 g Plain white flour
- ¼ tsp Mixed spice
- ¼ tsp Cinnamon
- 150 g Butter (unsalted)
- 40 g Almonds (whole) chopped
- 150 g Unrefined light muscovado sugar
- ½ Lemon zest
- 3 Egg(s) (free range) beaten
For the 20cm square/23cm round cake
- 625 g Currants
- 225 g Sultanas
- 225 g Raisins
- 175 g Glace cherries
- 100 g Mixed peel
- 3 tbsp Brandy
- 400 g Plain white flour
- 1 tsp Mixed spice
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 350 g Butter (unsalted)
- 100 g Almonds (whole) chopped
- 350 g Unrefined light muscovado sugar
- Lemon zest
- 6 Egg(s) (free range) beaten
For the 25cm square/28cm round cake
- 1 kg Currants
- 400 g Sultanas
- 400 g Raisins
- 275 g Glace cherries
- 200 g Mixed peel
- 4 tbsp Brandy
- 700 g Plain white flour
- 2 tsp Mixed spice
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 600 g Butter (unsalted)
- 200 g Almonds (whole) chopped
- 600 g Unrefined light muscovado sugar
- ½ Lemon zest
- 11 Egg(s) (free range) beaten
For the decoration
Find similar in:
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1
Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan, 300°F, gas mark 2).
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2
Grease and line the appropriate cake tin using a double thickness of baking paper. Tie a double thickness of brown paper round the outside of the tin and then stand the tin on a baking sheet which has also been lined with a double thickness of brown paper.
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3
Place currants, sultanas, raisins, glace cherries and mixed peel in a large mixing bowl. Add the brandy, mix well and cover with cling film. Leave to soak for a few hours, preferably overnight.
For this step you'll need:
- 1kg Currants
- 400g Sultanas
- 400g Raisins
- 275g Glace cherries
- 200g Mixed peel
- 4 tbsp Brandy
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4
Sift the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon together in another large bow. Add the almonds.
For this step you'll need:
- 700g Plain white flour
- 2tsp Mixed spice
- 2tsp Cinnamon
- 200g Almonds (whole) chopped
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5
Place the butter, sugar and grated lemon rind into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. This would be better done with an electric mixer, especially for the larger sizes.
For this step you'll need:
- 600g Butter (unsalted)
- 600g Unrefined light muscovado sugar
- ½ Lemon zest
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6
Gradually add the beaten eggs, adding a tablespoon of flour, if the mixture starts to curdle.
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7
Fold in the flour and spice mix until well combined. Finally add the soaked fruits along with any remaining liquid that may be in the bowl. Fold until evenly distributed through the mixture.
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8
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly. Tap the tin on the work surface a few times so to get rid of any air pockets. Smooth the surface with a back of a spoon, making a light dip in the middle of the cake.
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9
Bake in the center of the oven – the smallest tier should take 2 1/2 hours, the middle tier 4 hours and the largest tier will bake for 6 hours. Test the cake about 15 minutes before the end of the recommended time, by inserting a skewer in the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is cooked, if not return to the oven and re-test in 15 minutes. When cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
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10
When cool, remove form the tin, but do not remove the baking paper. Prick the top of the cakes and spoon over half the remaining brandy. Wrap in foil and store. Unwrap and feed with the remaining brandy. Wrap again until ready to decorate.
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11
To marzipan the cakes, brush the top and sides of the fruit cake with warmed, smooth apricot jam.
For this step you'll need:
- Apricot glaze
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12
Lightly dust the work surface and rolling pin with sifted icing sugar. Roll the marzipan, turning it 90° after every roll to get an even thickness. Roll the marzipan to a thickness of a £1 coin.
For this step you'll need:
- Marzipan
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13
Using the rolling pin, lift the marzipan and ease it over the cake. Use your hands to smooth the marzipan into place, making sure there are no air pockets. Trim away the excess marzipan from the base of the cake using a small knife.
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14
Lightly dust your hands with icing sugar and gently run over the cake with your hands to even out any lumps or bumps. Let the marzipan set for 1 to 2 days at room temperature before icing.
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15
To cover the cake board with sugar paste icing, dust the cake board with icing sugar and then brush with a little water to help secure the icing to the board.
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16
Lightly dust the work surface and rolling pin with sifted icing sugar. Take about 250g sugar paste icing, and roll to a thickness of 3mm and large enough to cover the cake board, you may need more if you are using a larger board.
For this step you'll need:
- Sugar paste icing
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17
Using the rolling pin, lift the icing and ease onto the cake board. Use your hands to smooth the icing into place, making sure there are no air pockets. Using a knife or a cake smoother, ease cut the icing around the edge of the board. If possible leave to dry of 1 to 2 days. Once the icing is dry cover the edge of the board with a ribbon, fixing the ends with a pin.
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18
To build up the tiers on your wedding cake, cut out a template the same size as the second layer and sit in the position of the second tier. Mark each corner with a needle. Push a plastic dowel into the cake and mark with the dowel with a pencil indicating where it comes out of the cake. Lift out of the dowels and trim the dowels about 1-2mm above the mark then stick them back into the cake. Pipe some royal icing onto the center of the bottom tier to secure the second tier. Carefully place the second tier onto the bottom one.
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19
Mix some icing to match the colour of the cake icing and pipe a thin line along the bottom edge of each tier. While wet run a finger over the line to smooth the icing and fill any gap between the two cake layers. A ribbon and also be added here to hide any unevenness that may appear.
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20
To make the spotty shapes, lightly dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out coloured sugar paste icing and cut spotty shapes – either use small cutters or the end of a piping nozzle. Pipe a small amount of white icing onto the fondant shape and use to stick the shapes to the cake.
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21
For the piped dots, place a plain nozzle in a piping bag. Fill with the icing, twist and hold in your writing hand. Squeeze the icing at the top of the bag to make it flow through. The icing should be smooth, soft but still with a little resistance.
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To make dots, hold the bag vertically with the nozzle close to the surface, squeeze a little icing out to make a dot the desired size, then to finish, stop squeezing, push down and then draw up sharply. If the dot has a little peak flatten carefully with a damp knifepoint or paintbrush.