Put the flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, the powdered spices and salt in a large bowl and whisk together a couple of times to mix. Add the dried fruit, nuts and the ginger and toss coat them well with the flour. This ensures the fruit doesnu2019t sink to the bottom of the cake.

In another large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand held electric mixer till fluffy. Add the beaten egg whites, the lemon and orange zest and the extracts and beat till mixed. Now add the half of the flour, and then half the orange juice, then the rest of the flour and the orange juice beating well after each addition until just mixed well. Lastly add the desiccated coconut and beat till well mixed. Do not over beat the batter.

Scrape the batter into a well-greased and floured (or parchment lined, if you prefer) 7 1/2u201d or 8u201d round cake tin. Smoothen the top and bake at 180C (350F) for about 40 minutes to an hour till a skewer pushed into the middle of the cake comes out clean.If you find the cake browning too quickly cover with foil about halfway through baking. This cake will rise but dome very gently. Let the cake cool in the tin for about 20 to 25 minutes in the cake tin and then unmould it. Cool completely on a rack.

Make a glaze by boiling the jam and water for a couple of minutes. Press this through a sieve to remove lumps and let it cool slightly. Brush this over the cake just before covering with marzipan. The recipe for marzipan, if you want to make it, is at the bottom of this post.

To Decorate The Fruit Cake With Marzipan:

Take a piece of the marzipan (about the size of an orange) and roll it into a smooth ball and flatten it slightly. Dust your work surface lightly with icing sugar, and roll out the marzipan to a uniform thickness of about 1/8thu201d. Cut out a circle, using a pizza/ pastry wheel, the exact diameter of your cake.

Brush the apricot glaze over the top of the cake, and place the marzipan circle on the cake to fit it perfectly. Press it down lightly so it sticks to the cake.Take the scraps from the rolled out marzipan and a little more fresh marzipan and roll it together into a ball (about 3/4 the earlier amount) and roll out again to 1/8thu201d thickness. Using a star shaped cookie cutter cut out enough stars to cover the top edge of cake.

Using some of the apricot glaze to help stick them down, place the stars, in an overlapping manner, along the top edge of the cake and one in the centre if you want. Decorate with silver dragees/ sugar balls.

Put the remaining marzipan in an airtight container and refrigerate for future use.If you are not toasting your marzipan decoration, then leave the cake in a cool place, overnight, to dry out.

If you have a blow torch, use that to toast and brown the marzipan decoratively. Otherwise place the marzipan covered cake under the grill for about 3 or 4 minutes or in an 180C (350F) oven for a few minutes. Watch your cake to see the marzipan doesnu2019t burn!

Almond/ Cashew Marzipan

Powder the almonds finely by running them along with a little of the icing sugar, to prevent it from becoming pasty. Even if it does, thatu2019s ok. Just make sure there are no lumps.

Put the sugar and water in a pan, and stir till the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and add the powdered almonds, extract and rose water. On medium heat, stir frequently until the almonds cook and became a thick mass. Once it starts leaving the sides of the pan and resembles a dough, take the pan off the heat. Take the marzipan out of the pan and let it cool on a slab.

Once cool knead well till smooth and use as required, or wrap in cling film and store in an airtight container in the fridge. If your marzipan seems hard or dry, just u201cwarmu201d it in the microwave for a about 10 seconds and it will soften up. Otherwise add a few drops of warm water and knead well.