1.Place the mixed fruit, peel and cherries in a large bowl, pour on the sherry and mix well. Cover and leave to absorb for a minimum of 3 hours but ideally overnight.
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Cream together the sunflower spread and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
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Drain the unabsorbed sherry from off the fruit into a jug.
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Beat the eggs, 2tbsp of the unabsorbed sherry (or extra if you have none left over) and mixed spice into the creamed sugar and sunflower spread
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Fold in the flour, until its mostly mixed it, then give it a good beat, this should bring the mix together.
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Stir in all the fruits and the ground almonds and mix well.
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Grease and line and 8 inch cake tin, pour in the mixture and bake in the oven on gas mark 4/180c for between 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30. Once a skewer or knife pushed into the middle of the cake comes out clean the cake is done.
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Remove from the tin and allow to cool on a cooling rack. This cake will keep for a good few months so you can make it well in time for xmas, just keep feeding the bottom of the cake with a few teaspoons of sherry every week to keep it moist, then nearer to Christmas you are free to decorate it it however you want!
NB: To ice the cake, level the top off with a knife, spread over half the jam (and round the sides if you want to fully ice). Roll out the marzipan and then drape over the cake, trim off excess and smooth out. Once again cover in jam, roll out the icing and again drape over, trim excess and smooth.
