Snowy clementine cakes

These little cakes are the ideal alternative for those who aren't partial to traditional Christmas fruit cake. A light and moist zesty sponge topped with a thin layer of marzipan and a generous amount of softly set royal icing (which is always the best bit!).

Preparation time: 55 minutes
Cooking time: 45-55 minutes
Makes: 20

What you need:

For the cake:

• 225g (8oz) butter, softened
• 225g (8oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Caster Sugar
• 225g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 4 eggs
• 55g (2oz) ground almonds

For the syrup:

• 4 clementines
• 2tbsp Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Icing Sugar

For the decoration:

• 450g (1lb) ready made marzipan
• 500g pack Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Royal Icing Sugar
• Extra clementine zest, to decorate (optional)

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, Gas Mark 4. Base line an 18cm (7in) square tin.
2. Place the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and ground almonds into a bowl. Zest three clementines and add to the bowl with the juice of only one clementine, reserve the remaining fruit for juicing later. Beat the cake ingredients together thoroughly with an electric hand whisk until light and fluffy.
3. Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 45-55 minutes until springy to the touch and cooked through. Leave to cool slightly then prick the cake all over with a skewer or cocktail stick. Juice the remaining fruit and add the 2tbsp icing sugar to make a syrup. Heat the syrup gently in a small pan or in the microwave. Pour over the cake. Leave to cool completely before cutting into 20 squares.
4. To decorate, roll out the marzipan until quite thin (about the thickness of a 50 pence piece), and use to cover each cake. Make the icing according to the pack instructions and ice each cake all over. Spike the icing with a knife for a snowy effect. Leave to set before topping each with a little zest.

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