A Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine

You Will Need:

80g Raisins

80g Golden Sultanas

25g Currants

50g Candied peel

100g glace cherries quartered

Grated zest and juice of 1 orange and 1lemon

2Tbsp Brandy or Dark rum

100g Blanched almonds, roughly chopped

550g Strong white Bread flour, plus extra for rolling

½ tsp Salt

1 ½ tsp Mixed spice

½ tsp of Cardamom seeds, ground

40g Caster sugar

250ml warm milk

14g dried yeast

100g unsalted butter, softened

1tsp Vanilla extract

2 Vanilla pod seeds

1 large egg, beaten

450g Marzipan

Icing sugar, for dusting

Method (By Hand)

1. Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, peel, chopped almonds and cherries in a medium- sized bowl. Add the lemon and orange zest, lemon/orange juice, and the brandy and leave to soak, 2hours.
2. Sift the flour, mixed spice then add the ground cardamom seeds, vanilla seeds. Warm the milk in a saucepan then add the butter and sugar and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool slightly then sprinkle in the yeast into the saucepan of milk. Leave for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. Add a beaten egg to the yeasted milk. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeasted milk.
3. Use a spoon to draw enough of the flour into the yeasted milk to form a soft paste. Cover with cling film and leave to “sponge” until frothy and risen, about 20 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured work top. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10minutes. Put the dough in a buttered bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rise until doubled in size, about 1-1 ½ hours. Knock back, and then leave to rest for 10 minutes.
5. On a lightly floured work top, use the rolling pin and roll out the dough into a square, about (1in) thick. Scatter the fruit and almond mixture evenly over the dough and knead in gently until evenly incorporated.

6. 

   Roll out the dough on a work top to form a flat oval 35cm (14in) long and 2.5cm (1in) thick. Place it on a buttered baking sheet.
7. Roll the marzipan into a sausage shape, so it’s slightly shorter than the length of the dough. Make a lengthways indentation down the centre of the dough then place the sausage shape marzipan in the indentation. Fold the dough in half lengthways, leaving a 2.5cm (1in) flap. Press the flap over to seal.
8. Use your hands to plump a small, rounded ridge down the centre. Place into a plastic bag and tie the handles together, and prove until doubled in size, about 1- 1 ½ hours.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F for 25-30 minutes until firm, and a metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wired rack. Dust with icing sugar, then store in an airtight container for at least a week. Serve sliced.