Wedding Cake - Tier 2 23 cm (9") Square
Ingredients
- Also Ideal for any Celebration Fruit Cake
- 1kg. 350 gr. (3 lb.) mixed dried fruit
- 75 gr. (3 oz.) glacé cherries
- 5 tbsp. brandy
- 360 gr. (12½ oz.) plain flour
- ½ rounded tsp. salt
- ½ rounded tsp. nutmeg
- ¾ rounded tsp. mixed spice
- 360 gr. (12½ oz.) unsalted butter
- 360 gr. (12½ oz.) dark soft brown sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 75 gr. (3 oz.) chopped almonds
- 1½ rounded tbsp. black treacle
- Grated rind of a large orange
- Grated rind of a large lemon
- Preheat oven to 130°C.
- Grease and line a 23 cm. (9") square tin with parchment paper.
- Have ready a double piece of brown paper for wrapping around the tin, which will come above the rim by about
- 5 cm. (2") and a square of double greaseproof paper with a small hole in the middle.
Method
Bake the cake 3 months before the date of the wedding
Begin the cake the night before you want to bake it.
Weigh out the mixed fruit and glacé cherries and place in a mixing bowl. Mix in the brandy. Cover and leave the fruit aside to absorb the brandy overnight.
Next day, it is easier to begin by measuring out the rest of the ingredients. The treacle will be easier to measure if you pour boiling water into a pyrex jug and dip your spoon into it first.
Now begin the cake by sifting the flour, salt and spices into a mixing bowl, lifting the sieve up high to get plenty of air into the flour.
Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until it's light, pale and fluffy. This is where you are going to mix all the cake ingredients.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the creamed mixture a tablespoon at a time; keep the whisk running until all the egg is incorporated. If it shows signs of curdling, don't worry, just add a tbsp. of the flour.
When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices, gently, being careful not to beat. Now fold in the mixed fruit, cherries, chopped almonds and treacle and finally the grated lemon and orange zests.
Transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it out evenly with the back of a spoon. After spooning in the mixture, sellotape a double piece of brown paper around the tin coming above the rim by about 5 cm. (2"). Place in the preheated oven.
Bake for about 1 hr. and then gently cover the top of the cake with a double square of greaseproof paper with a small hole in the centre. Bake the cake for approx. 4 hrs. checking after 3 hrs. Remember ovens do vary. The best test is when a cake tester or thin skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, it is then ready to take out of the oven.
Leave the cake for 30 minutes in the tin and then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. When it is cold, prick holes in the top of the cake with a cake tester and ‘feed’ it with 2 tbsp. brandy/sherry, a teaspoon at a time, to soak in through the holes. Wrap in double greaseproof paper, and finally in double foil and store in an airtight polythene box or tin.
'Feed' a further 2 tbsp. brandy/sherry once a week over the next two or three weeks, then leave to mature. Click here to marzipan, ice and tier the cake.