Festive, Light and Fruity Whisky Marmalade Cake

I am a huge fan of Christmas cake, but I know that not everyone likes the rich dark fruit cake that is traditionally baked for Christmas.  I am also aware that not everyone manages to make their cake in late October or early November to allow it to mature in time for Christmas, so it’s really nice to have a lighter cake that can be made and eaten straight away.  This recipe is great to make any time of the year, but I’ve dressed it up a bit for the festive season.

I’m delighted to say that this post is part of #ChristmaswithMackays a 12 days of Christmas feature being run by Mackays, a family run Scottish company who make their preserves in small batches in the traditional way. 

Festive, Light and Fruity Whisky Marmalade Cake

For Cake
6oz/175g soft margarine or butter
6oz/175g caster sugar

6oz/175g sultanas
4oz/125g raisins
50g mixed peel
50g glace cherries, halved
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp Mackays Orange Marmalade with Whisky
1 tbsp Whisky

For Topping
1 clementine, sliced thinly
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp water
glace cherries
Mixed nuts
  
To make the cake:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 325F, 160C and grease and line an 8in/20cm round cake tin.
2. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Fill the tin with the mixture, smoothing the top.
4. Bake for 2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. If the cake appears to be browning too quickly place a piece of foil over the top of the tin.
6. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack and leave until completely cold.

To make the topping
1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat slowly until all the sugar has melted.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until it starts to thicken and become like syrup.
3. Add the clementine slices and simmer gently for 10 minutes.  Watch it carefully to make sure the sugar syrup does not dry up.
4. Lift the clementine slices out of the syrup and place on a sheet of baking parchment to cool.
5. Set aside the syrup to cool.
6.
Brush the top of the cake with the cooled syrup and place the
clementine slices, cherries and nuts in an attractive pattern over the
top of the cake. Brush the nuts and fruits with the syrup.

Thanks to Claire at Mackays for the samples of Mackays Marmalades, I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.