Snow Queen White Christmas Cake

The Snow Queen White Christmas Cake is a stunning Christmas cake with a difference!

16 - 20 servings

Medium 120 Minutes

Ingredients

For the recipe Snow Queen White Christmas Cake

For the cake:

350 g	Lightly Salted Butter (12 oz) softened
350 g	Caster Sugar (12 oz)
	Dr. Oetker Vanilla Pod , Grinded
450 g	Dried Cranberries (1lb) and chopped multi-coloured glace cherries
375 g	Plain Flour (13 oz)
75 g	Cornflour (3 oz)
1	Dr. Oetker Baking Powder Sachet x 2 sachets (2 tsp)
6	Medium Eggs Beaten

To decorate:

30 ml	Honey (2 tbsp)
450 g	Dr. Oetker Ready to Roll Marzipan
475 g	Icing Sugar (1lb 1oz) and extra to dust
1	Dr. Oetker Free Range Egg White Powder Sachet x 2 sachets (2 medium egg whites)
5 ml	Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)
5 ml	Dr. Oetker Glycerine (1 tsp)
	Fresh Rosemary x 9 sprigs
1 g	Edible Glitter Dust
100 g	Pomegranate Seeds (3 1/2 oz)

preparation

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C Fan oven, Gas Mark 3). Grease and double line a deep 20cm (8 inch) round cake tin with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat together until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs and add 5 or 6 turns of the Vanilla Grinder. Stir in the fruit.

Sieve the flour, cornflour and Baking Powder on top. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold all the ingredients together until well blended.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the top, then make a large dent in the centre to help keep the cake from rising too much. Bake in the oven for 1 ½ - 1 ¾ hours until golden, evenly risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then turn on to a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, trim away the top part of the cake if the cake has domed – keep the trimmings for cake pops or truffles. Measure the cake from the bottom of one side, over the top of the cake, to the bottom of the other side. Brush the cake all over with honey.

Knead the Marzipan until soft and pliable. Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar. Roll the Marzipan to the diameter of the cake and using the rolling pin to help you, transfer the Marzipan to the cake to cover it.

Smooth the Marzipan over the cake using the palm of your hand, making sure that the cake is completely covered. Trim away the excess and neaten the edge. Place on a serving plate and set aside.

To make the frosting, make up the Egg White Powder according to the packet instructions and whisk until frothy. Gradually sift the icing sugar on top in small batches, beating in well after each addition, until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Stir in the Vanilla Extract and Glycerine.

Spread the frosting over the cake top and sides, swirling the icing using a palette knife. Leave the cake to one side until the frosting has set slightly.

Meanwhile, push the rosemary sprigs into a piece of polystyrene or florist's foam. Cover the work surface with greaseproof paper or kitchen paper. Dust the rosemary sprigs with gold or silver Edible Glitter until lightly silvery and shimmering.

Once the frosting has set slightly, sprinkle on edible glitter as above

For a finishing touch, spoon over the pomegranate seeds just before serving. Your cake is now ready to serve and enjoy!

1 portion = 120g

Unlike a more traditional rich fruit cake, this white fruit cake does not keep so long and should only be made up to 2 days before serving. Once served, store any remaining cake in an air-tight container having first removed the pomegranate seeds. The cake should keep fresh in this way for up to 10 days after baking.