Certosino recipe

This recipe is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

Decorated like a jewel box, this Italian Christmas cake is for those times when you want a festive sweet treat but not a full-on creamy dessert. It’s perfect with an espresso coffee or cup of tea, too.

CERTOSINO

Prep: 30 minutes | Cook: 55-60 minutes | Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

Cake

300g runny honey

100g glace cherries, coarsely chopped

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon and

1 orange

200g raisins

3 gala apples, grated

80ml marsala or port

350g self-raising flour

30g cocoa powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

70g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

70g whole almonds, coarsely chopped

To decorate

½ cup apricot jam

Juice of 1 lemon

200g mixed dried fruit such as apricots, oranges, prunes, figs

30g walnut or pecan halves, toasted

Method

Cake: Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan-bake). Grease a 22cm springform cake tin and line base with baking paper. Put the honey in a small pot and heat until just warm and liquid. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries, zest, raisins, grated apple and marsala or port.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, chocolate and almonds and make a well in the centre. Add the fruit/liquid ingredients to the well and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate: Heat the jam and lemon juice in a small pot then sieve to give a smooth glaze. Use a pastry brush to brush the top of the cake with the glaze. Decorate with fruit and nuts and brush with remaining glaze. Will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.