Unboxing Royal Wedding Cake

Royal Wedding Cake

Ripley’s owns six slices of royal wedding cake—two pieces each from the weddings of Queen Elizabeth, Princess Di, and Princess Middleton! Although red velvet is reported as the most popular wedding cake flavor worldwide, these are all the traditional brandy-infused fruitcake. Yes, brandy—the alcohol helps preserve it!

Craving a dignified dessert after watching today’s episode? British pastry chef Fiona Cairns has shared the recipe she used to bake Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding cake! You may need a Buckingham Palace guard to keep an eye on it though, as it needs to sit for about three months before you take a bite!

Fruit Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups candied cherries
2 cups golden raisins
2 cups dark raisins, preferably Thompson
1 1/4 cups mixed candied citrus peel
2/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 cup dried currants
3 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons bitter orange marmalade
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
finely grated zest of 1 organic orange
finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon
1 heaped tablespoon apple pie spice
6 tablespoons brandy, plus 3 tablespoons to feed the cake
1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup blanched almonds
1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for the pan
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups almond flour
5 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preparing the Batter:

The day before you begin baking, you will need to prep the fruit. Rinse and half the cherries, and then mix them with the raisins, peels, ginger, currants, molasses, marmalade, tamarind paste, zests and spice. Pour in 6 tablespoons of brandy and stir it all up! Cover and let this mixture stand overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter your pan and line it with parchment. Wrap the outside of the pan with brown paper and tie with string, to protect the cake from scorching in the oven.

Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes before chopping them up and setting them aside.

Almost There:

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar until it turns fluffy. Add the ground almonds, then very gradually the eggs, mixing well. Fold in the flour with a large metal spoon and then the soaked fruits and nuts.

Spread the batter into the pan and bake for about 2 ½ to 3 hours. Let it cool and then sprinkle your remaining brandy on top.

Now, wait…sprinkling more brandy on every other week!