Easter Rich Fruit Cake

I have eaten fruit cake before, but never could I have guessed the process behind making them. They are not a tradition we had in our household. I'm not going to lie, I intended this fruit cake to be eaten at Christmas. However, I didn't realise that they need to mature like cheese for at least two weeks before they can be eaten. So I made it, packed it in a tin for three months, and set it aside for our Easter fruit cake.

When I was ready to finish the cake off, I topped it in pre-rolled marzipan, let it dry out for another 24 hours, then made some royal icing (which dries hard) to spread on top. You can then decorate it however you want.

A word of warning before you start: these cakes aren't cheap to make. Full of brandy, dried fruit, and topped with marzipan, fruit cakes cost a pretty penny. I think I probably spent about £25 ($35) on this one as I didn't have any of the dried fruit or brandy in my pantry.

So was the wait and effort worth it? Rich fruit cake will never be my favourite cake, but I have to say, I was really happy with the taste of this one and how it turned out. It packs a punch, and I wouldn't recommend eating a lot of the cake and then driving, but it was really moist and tasty. And if you've never made fruit cake before, I you should try it just to say you made one once in your life. Just make sure you start it plenty of time in advance.

The recipe can be found here and is by Mary Berry. Because it's such a strong part of the flavour, try to use a decent brandy to feed the cake and make sure to use the same brandy throughout.

If you're interested in trying to make some of the little characters, buy some sugar paste from a baking supply store and knead in 1/2 TBSP of Tylose powder and whatever food colouring you need.

Happy baking!