Ingredients
Grand marnier christmas cake
Decorations
Method
Grand marnier christmas cake
1.Combine fruit, marmalade and liqueur in large bowl; mix well, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Store mixture in cool, dark place overnight or up to a week, stirring every day.
2.Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Line base and sides of deep 19cm-square cake pan with two layers of brown and two layers of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above sides.
3.Beat butter and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until just combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined between additions. Add the butter mixture to fruit mixture; mix well. Stir in sifted flour and spice, then nuts.
4.Spread mixture into pan. Bake about 3 hours. Brush top of cake with extra liqueur. Cover hot cake tightly with foil, turn cake upside down; cool in pan.
5.Combine sugar and the water in small saucepan; stir over heat until sugar is dissolved. Boil, uncovered, 1 minute, cool syrup.
6.Place cake top-side down on board. Brush top of cake with some of the syrup. Knead icing until smooth, on surface dusted with sifted icing sugar. Roll out icing until large enough to cover top of cake. Lift icing onto the cake; smooth with hands, trim excess icing. Stand 3 hours or overnight until firm.
7.Place cutter gently on cake to use as a guide. Brush the icing inside the cutter with a little syrup, sprinkle with cachous; remove cutter. Decorate sides of cake with ribbon.
