Christmas Cake with Toffee nut crunch

Zest of 2 oranges and 1/4 cup juice

Zest of 1 lemon and a squeeze of juice

Cake

3 ½ cups high grade flour
(or plain, the fruit might sink to the bottom a bit though) (or use gluten-free
flour)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp mace (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

5 free-range eggs

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup rice bran or grape seed oil

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp natural vanilla essence

2 cups peeled & grated beetroot

1 1/2 cups peeled & grated carrot

Cream cheese icing

500g cream cheese

25g butter, softened

3 cups icing sugar, sifted

Squeeze of lemon juice

Toffee nut crunch (for serving on top of cake) 

50g butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp mixed spice

1 cup mixed nuts

Pinch salt

Fruit

Add the apricots and cranberries to a non-metallic bowl with the Galliano (or whatever liqueur you choose), orange juice and zest, and lemon juice and zest.

All the fruit should be covered.

Cover and leave at least overnight, or a couple of days in the fridge.

Cake

Preheat oven to 160c conventional bake and set a rack in the lower half of the oven.

Line the base and sides of a 25-28cm cake tin withbaking paper – have the paper coming up past the sides.

Set the rack just in the lower half of the oven.

Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into your largest mixing bowl and whisk to combine evenly.

Drain the soaked fruit through a sieve, reserving the syrupy liqueur juice in a bowl for later.

Crack the eggs into another large bowl. Add the sugars, oils and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Add the soaked fruit with a 1/3 cup of the syrupy liquid, and the grated carrot and beetroot. Fold to combine. (Note – if using gluten-free flour, add 1/2 cup of the liqueur).

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and fold until well combined – I use a rubber spatula for this to get everything off the sides and bottom.

Scrape into the greased tin.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour 40 minutes (a skewer inserted should come out clean). Cool slightly, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely. Seal in an airtight container for a few days until ready to ice.

Icing

To make the icing, beat the ingredients together until smooth. Add a little more lemon juice if necessary to thin it out or more icing sugar to thicken. Ice the cooled cake using a knife or spatula dipped in hot water.

Toffee nut crunch

Preheat the oven to 150c conventional bake. Heat the butter, sugar and spices in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is melted. Stir in the nuts and salt and pepper.

Pour into an even layer in a roasting dish lined with baking paper and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes – the nuts should be golden brown but not burnt – keep an eye on it if your oven tends to run hot.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Break into pieces and pulse in a food processor to a coarse crumb (or bash in a bag with a rolling pin).

Sprinkle on top of the cake before serving!