Tennis Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour (Originally '15 Tolas Mill's No. 1 Wheat Flour'. Converted to approx 175g.)
• 1 cup Butter (Originally '0.5 Seer' (approx 230g). Softened.)
• 1 cup Powdered sugar (Originally '0.5 Seer' (approx 230g).)
• 1 1/2 cups Black raisins or currants (Originally '0.5 Seer large black raisins' (approx 230g).)
• 1/3 cup Candied orange or citron peel (Originally '5 Tolas orange or malunga marmalade pieces'. Finely chopped.)
• 1/4 cup Almonds (Originally '2.5 Tolas almond seeds'. Blanched and chopped.)
• 4 whole Eggs (Fresh.)
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder (Heaping teaspoon.)
• 1 tablespoon Butter (for greasing) (Estimated for greasing the mold.)
• 1 cup Almond paste or Marzipan (For the first icing layer. Quantity estimated based on instructions.)
• 1 cup Royal Icing (Sugar Icing) (For the top icing layer. Quantity estimated based on instructions.)

Instructions

1. 1Remove seeds from the raisins, wash them thoroughly, and dry them completely. Peel the almonds (blanch if necessary) and chop or slice them finely.
2. 2In a tin-lined vessel or large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients one by one: cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs, then fold in the flour, baking powder, prepared raisins, chopped almonds, and candied peel until well combined.
3. 3Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Take a round cake tin (mold), grease it well with butter, and line it with thick white paper that has also been greased with sufficient butter. Fill the mold three-quarters full with the cake mixture. Bake in the moderate oven until cooked through and golden brown.
4. 4Once baked, remove from the oven. Use a hot knife to cleanly cut off the risen dome of the cake to make the top perfectly flat. Spread a layer of almond icing (marzipan) over the top and place in a cool oven (turned off but warm) for 10 minutes to set. Finally, spread a layer of sugar icing (royal icing) over the almond layer and return to the cool oven to dry and set.