Tuesday Treat

Marzipan Loaf Cake (with or without Raspberry Marzipan Icing!)

This is one of the cakes which will end up as a family favourite as not only is it delicious but super simple to make – you literally throw all the ingredients into a processor and blend. The flavour of marzipan is not overpowering, so even if you’re not a lover of marzipan do try it – you won’t regret it! The icing is optional, it’s very good simply unadorned as an everyday, anytime cake. It’s become my go-to recipe when I want something sweet in the house, I more often than not serve it plain, but when I want something a little more ‘wow’ I top it with the icing – it also photographs better with the icing! The recipe for the cake is from Nigella Lawson’s ‘Cook, Eat, Repeat’ cookbook whilst the icing is from Skye McAlpine’s ‘A Table Full of Love’.

150g marzipan (white or yellow) or almond paste, at room temperature

125g soft unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)

50g caster sugar

75g plain flour (gluten-free if required)

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten-free if required)

1½ teaspoons ground cardamom

3 eggs at room temperature

Raspberry Marzipan Icing:

150g fresh raspberries

110g icing sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon boiling water

40g marzipan, grated

60g unsalted butter, softened

1. Put all the ingredients (tearing up the marzipan into lumps first) into the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides a couple of times.
2. Pour the mixture into a loaf tin lined with baking parchment (or easier still use loaf-tin liner). Bake in a preheated oven, 150’c fan, for 40-50 minutes (cover with loose foil after 30-or-so minutes if it is becoming too brown) until the cake is beginning to come away from the sides and a cake tester comes out clean. It will ruckle a little on the top as it cools.

For the butter cream icing:

1. If you are serving it with the butter icing:  Combine 70g of the raspberries in a food processor with 1 tablespoon of icing sugar and blitz to a smooth puree. Pass the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds and put the deep pink puree to one side.
2. In a small bowl add the tablespoon of boiling water to the grated marzipan and stir to melt it slightly (this will stop it going lumpy when you add it to the buttercream).
3. In a second bowl use a hand-held electric whisk to mix 110g of the icing sugar and butter until pale and fluffy, then add the marzipan and beat until smooth. Finally add the raspberry puree and beat.
4. Spread the icing over the top of the cake and decorate with the remaining raspberries.