UP BALLOON CAKE RECIPES

Steps:

• The night before you plan to bake, put the dried fruit, cherries, candied peel, 3 tbsp of the whisky, the citrus zest and juices in a bowl and stir. Cover and leave overnight (see Tips).
• The next day, tie a folded sheet of newspaper into a band, wrap it around the outside of the prepared tin, then tie with string. Fold another few sheets into a thick pad and put on a baking sheet. This helps stop the cake browning too quickly, as it’s in the oven for quite a long time.
• Heat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/ gas 3. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg a little at a time, adding 1 tbsp flour after the second and third addition (see Tips). Sift over the remaining flour, baking powder and nutmeg, then fold in using a balloon whisk, adding a little milk if necessary to get a soft dropping consistency. Fold in the chopped and ground almonds, then the soaked fruit and any juices.
• Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top with the back of a spoon. Decorate the cake with circles of blanched almonds, working from the outside edge inwards – press the almonds in very lightly as you don’t want them to sink during baking.
• Put the cake tin on the folded paper on the baking tray and bake in the centre of the oven for about 2 hours or until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out clean (see Tips).
• Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove, put on a wire rack and leave until completely cold. Wrap the cake in a large sheet of compostable baking paper, then a layer of foil and store in an airtight tin (see Make Ahead).
• The day after baking, unwrap the cake, turn it over and prick the base with a fine skewer. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of the remaining whisky, then re-wrap it and return it to the tin. Repeat this feeding process twice, on day 3 and day 5 after baking. After that, either eat or wrap and leave to mature (see Make Ahead).

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Generously grease a 1.5 litre bundt tin (see tip). Heat the butter, sugar and treacle gently in a pan until the butter and sugar have melted. Beat in the stem ginger and eggs with a balloon whisk.
• Sift the flour, bicarb and spices into a large bowl. Pour in the sugar/butter mixture and stir with a balloon whisk, then stir in the yogurt until combined. Pour into the greased bundt tin.
• Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• For the topping, put the icing sugar in a bowl, then gradually whisk in a drizzle of warm water until you have an icing that runs thickly from a lifted spoon. You’ll need less water than you might think, so add it slowly. Drizzle the icing over the cake, then scatter over the pomegranate seeds. Leave the icing to set for 30 minutes or so, then take to the table whole for maximum effect.