Can I Keep The Marzipan Fruit Cake Long Term?

Our answer

Nigella's Marzipan Fruit Cake (from HOW TO BE DOMESTIC GODDESS) is a lighter form of fruit cake that includes marzipan in the cake batter. The cake will keep, wrapped in baking parchment (parchment paper) and stored in an airtight container in a cool place abd is best within a week, though can keep for up to 3 weeks.

Unfortunately, this is not a cake that you can keep and mature, in the same way that you might for a traditional rich fruit Christmas cake, as the ratio of dried fruits to other ingredients is too low. In a rich fruit cake there is a very high ratio of fruits to butter and flour and this helps the cake to keep without spoiling. Even if you feed the marzipan fruit cake, this will not stop it from evenutally starting to form spots of mould. In addition, there are a lot of almonds in the mixture and almonds can turn rancid if stored for a long time. If you want to keep the cake longer then you could freeze it, wrapped tightly in a double layer of food wrap and a layer of foil (don't wrap directly in foil). Unwrap and thaw for 3-4 hours at room temperature. The cake is at its best if thawed and eaten within 3 months of freezing.