Delicious UK - (11)November 2020

Mini Dundee cakes
with hazelnut marzipan
and marmalade topping
MAKES 4 CAKES. HANDS-ON TIME 45 MIN,
OVEN TIME 1 HOUR, PLUS OVERNIGHT
SOAKING, COOLING AND 5 DAYS FEEDING

MAKE

AHEAD

Make the cakes at least
3 weeks before you’re
planning to eat them.
They’ll keep for up to 6 weeks.

FOOD

TEAM’S

TIP

Lightly whisk, then freeze

the unused egg yolk to use

in another recipe.

• 100g raisins


• 100g currants


• 100g sultanas


• 200g mixed chopped candied
  peel


• 6 tbsp whisky


• Finely grated zest and juice 1 small
  orange


• 150g butter, softened


• 150g light soft brown sugar


• 3 large free-range eggs, beaten


• 225g plain flour


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 2-3 tbsp milk, as necessary


• 25g ground hazelnuts

FOR THE BURNISHED HAZELNUT MARZIPAN

• 200g whole skinned hazelnuts


• 150g icing sugar, plus extra for
  dusting


• 1 medium free-range egg white
  (see tip)


• 3 tbsp no-peel orange
  marmalade

TO DECORATE

• Whole skinned hazelnuts (optional)


• Festive ribbon and cellophane for
  wrapping (if baking to give as a gift)

YOU’LL ALSO NEED...

• 4 x 10cm or 15cm loose-bottomed,
  deep round cake tins, greased and
  lined with compostable baking
  paper, plus extra paper and foil
  for wrapping; sheets of newspaper;
  cook’s string; cook’s blowtorch

1 The night before, mix the dried fruit,
peel, 3 tbsp of the whisky and the
orange zest and juice in a bowl, then
cover. Soak overnight (see tips, right).

of each in the glaze first.

7 If you’re giving the cakes as gifts,

you could tie a festive ribbon around

each, then wrap in cellophane, tying

it in place at the top with more

ribbon. Otherwise, devour with joy!

PER CAKE 1,849kcals, 89g fat (25g

saturated), 29.2g protein, 214.4g

carbs (158.2g sugars), 1.7g salt,

12.1g fibre

2 Heat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/

gas 3. Combine the rest of the

ingredients as in step 3 of the master

recipe, mix with the whisky-soaked

fruit, then spoon the mixture into

the prepared tins. Bake in the

centre of the oven for about an hour

or until a skewer pushed into the

centre of each cake comes out clean.

3 Leave the cakes to cool in their

tins for 30 minutes, then remove

from the tins, put on a wire rack

and leave until completely cold.

Wrap the cakes in compostable

baking paper, then foil. Store in an

airtight tin until you’re ready to

decorate the cakes, feeding them

with whisky (as in the master

recipe) over the first 5 days.

4 For the marzipan, put the 200g

skinned hazelnuts in a food

processor and pulse to grind finely.

Add the icing sugar and process

once more until the nuts are very

finely ground. In a mixing bowl,

whisk the egg white until frothy,

then add the sugary ground nuts

a little at a time until the mixture

comes together into a ball and

becomes smooth and malleable but

not overly wet and sticky. Turn the

mixture out onto a work surface

lightly dusted with icing sugar and

knead until extra smooth.

5 Divide into 4 equal pieces, knead

each into a round, then roll out to

10cm or 15cm discs, according to

the size of your tins. Trim the edges

neatly with a sharp knife, using a

small upturned saucer or dish as a

template. Reserve the trimmings.

6 Put the no–peel marmalade in

a small pan with 1 tbsp cold water

and heat gently over a low heat.

Brush the top of each cake with the

glaze (you may need to trim the

cakes first to get a flat top) and

cover with discs of marzipan. Crimp

the edges attractively with your

fingers. Re-knead and roll the

marzipan trimmings, then cut out

small holly-leaf shapes. Brush one

side of each leaf with glaze and use

to decorate the tops of each cake.

Using a blowtorch, carefully burnish

the marzipan. If you’re adding whole

hazelnuts to decorate, dip the base

make it special.

NEXT

MONTH

Easy bakes,

from a new take

on rocky road

to Christmas

cupcakes

and more

EASYSWAPS

+Anycombinationofsultanas,

currants,raisins,mixedpeel,

driedcranberries,blueberries

anddriedcherrieswillwork,as

longastheoverallweightis500g.

+Usingdarksoftbrownor

muscovadosugarwillgiveyour

cakea slightlydarkercolour.

+Youcouldusebrandyinstead

ofwhiskyif youprefer.

+Adda littlemixedspiceand/or

vanillabeanpastetothebasic

cakemixtureif youlike.

+Youcoulddecoratethetopof

thebigcakewithdifferentnuts

if youlike.Pecans,walnutsor

wholehazelnutswouldalllook

great,buttomakesuretheydon’t

overbrownintheoven,protectthe

topwithfoil(asintip3,below).

DEBBIE’STIPSFORSUCCESS

1

Soakingthedriedfruit

overnightplumpsthemupand

alsoensuresyourcakemixture

doesn’tbecomeoverlywet,which

wouldcausethefruittosink

duringcooking.

2

Addinga littleflourwiththe

secondandthirdegghelps

preventthecakemixture

splittingduringmixing.

3

Thebigcakeisintheoven

fora longtime.Aswellas

protectingtheundersideand

outsideofthetinwithfolded

newspaper,youmightneedto

coverthetoplooselywithfolded

foilonceit hasa goodcolour.

4

Ovensvarysocheckthebig

cake10-15minutesbeforethe

endofcooking,piercinginthe

centrewitha skewer.It might

takeslightlylessormoretimeto

bakethanstated.Youwantthe

caketobecookedalltheway

through,butnotforsolongthatit

overcooksanddriesout.(Check

thesmallcakestoo,5 minutes

beforetheendofcooking.)