In the spring I made a load of marmalade from my homegrown lemons. I didn't chop the peel very finely and the man wot I live with was not impressed. He's the marmalade eater and he hasn't eaten the stuff. What to do? Delia Smith's Christmas book has a last-minute Christmas mincemeat cake. Well, I've made my mincemeat and know from experience that it will disappear quickly enough over the holiday period so why not substitute marmalade instead? This is such a quick and easy recipe.
450g marmalade
225g sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
150g dark brown sugar
150g softened butter
175g mixed dried fruit, (I added some dried cranberries for a bit of colour.)
50g walnuts
3 eggs.
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly and pour into a 20cm cake tin that has been lined with greaseproof paper. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes approx at gas mark 3. leave to cool in the tin before turning out.
I added some blanched almonds and marzipan stars to the surface before cooking.
I should have kept it in the oven for a little while longer because as it cooled the centre dropped slightly. How annoying - I hope it will be okay when it's cut!
