Earl Grey Christmas Cake

1. Bring 500ml of red grape juice, the orange zest and juice, cinnamon bark, star anise and The Earl pyramid bags to the boil in a large saucepan.
   
2. Reduce by half and discard the teabags.
3. Add the dried fruit. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 mins until the fruits are plump.
4. Remove the cinnamon bark and star anise after you reduce the liquid.
5. Add the remaining 250ml of red grape juice, the butter and sugar and stir everything until melted.
6. Remove off the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding all the dry ingredients to the mixture.
7. Preheat the oven to 150c
   
8. Gradually beat in the eggs into the cake mixture and pour the mixture into a lined 8 inch cake tin.
9. Wrap the outside of the tin with newspaper and a damp tea towel and secure with an elastic band.
10. Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until a skewer comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool in the tin.
12. To decorate, brush the top of the cake with a little water.
13. Roll out the marzipan and cut out a circle the same size as the cake and place on top.
14. Repeat with sugar paste. Decorate with sugar paste stars and holly leaves.

This Christmas cake can be made up to a week before Christmas. To feed, pour a few tablespoons of red grape juice over the cake 3 times throughout the week and wrap tightly in several layers of cling film.

Adult Tip: If you want to make this Christmas Cake extra yummy, add your favourite tipple to the mixture. This will also make the cake last a lot longer.

We hope this Christmas Cake makes your day an extremely festive and delicious event. Merry Christmas!