This festive fruit cake, with the bonus of whole macadamias and chocolate, is moist, delicious and impossible to resist. Get creative with macadamias and fondant to make the cutest Santa and snowman to decorate your cake at Christmas.
Ingredients
For the chocolate fruit and macadamia cake
- 250 g mixed glacé fruits such as peaches, apricots, figs and pears, roughly chopped
- 100 g prunes pitted
- 100 g raisins seedless
- 3/4 cup dark rum
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 125 g butter
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 3/4 cup water boiling
- 2 eggs separated
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup macadamias whole
- 1/2 cup sour cream
For the royal icing
- 2 egg whites
- 4 cups icing sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp glycerin
For the Santa, snowman and snow-covered tree
- 50 g bright red fondant
- 50 g white fondant
- 4 macadamia nuts whole
- black edible ink pen
- 3 small silver dragees
- 1 small piece of dried paw paw or apricot cut into a tiny long nose shape
- 2 rosemary stalks cut into 5-6cm long segments
- 1 egg white lightly beaten
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
For the chocolate fruit and macadamia cake
- Combine the glacé fruit, prunes, raisins and rum in a bowl. Cover and stand overnight.
- Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease and line a 20cm round, deep cake tin.
- Place the chocolate, butter, sugar and boiling water in a large bowl and allow to stand, stirring occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted. Stir in the egg yolks and the fruit and rum mixture. Sift half the combined flour and baking powder over the mixture and stir to combine, adding half the sour cream and macadamias as you go. Repeat with remaining flour, baking powder and sour cream and macadamias.
- Whisk or beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and gently fold through the cake mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1¼ -1 ½ hours, until the cake feels firm to touch in the middle and a skewer comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the royal icing
- Place the egg whites in a bowl and lightly beat with electric beaters until frothy.
- Sift in the icing sugar and beat to combine.
- Add lemon juice and glycerin and beat until the mixture is thick and glossy.
For the Santa, snowman and snow-covered tree
- Form the red fondant into a 5cm round disc. Place it on a piece of baking paper and lay another piece of baking paper over. Use a rolling pin to roll the fondant out to about 2mm thick.
- Using a cutter or the rim of a glass with a 4-5cm diameter, cut a circle. Wrap one nut completely in the fondant, smoothing it down at the join so that the nut is completely covered in red.
- Repeat the rolling process with the white fondant.
- Using a sharp knife, cut a 3cm crescent shape ‘beard’ and attach the beard to another macadamia by resting it on the front and pinching it at the back. Create a Santa hat by cutting a second 4-5cm circle and wrap it around the top end of the nut with the beard on it, pinching it together and cutting away any excess. Cut a 4cm strip of white fondant to wrap around the bottom edge of the hat and press a small ball on the tip to create a pom pom. Press the head to the body, squeezing gently so that they stick together. Add two eyes using the edible black pen.
- For the snowman, repeat the process for two nuts as per Santa’s body but with the white fondant, wrapping both nuts completely in white fondant circles. Gently press the head to the body and add silver dragees for buttons and a little carrot nose made from the paw paw or apricot. Give the snowman eyes using the edible black pen.
- To make the snow dusted trees, brush segments of rosemary sprigs with a little beaten egg white and dip into caster sugar to give the effect of a tree with snow on it.
- To serve, cover cake with royal icing and decorate with Santa, a snowman and sugared rosemary trees.