Tennis Cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 320°F. Grease a deep 9×6-inch cake pan (or use a standard 9-inch square pan and plan to trim the cake to 9×6 inches). Line the base and sides with parchment paper.
2. Rinse the cherries under running water and drain well. Dry the pineapple and cherries very thoroughly with paper towels. Place all the fruit and nuts in a bowl with the lemon zest and gently mix together.
3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of flour each time to prevent the mixture from curdling. Fold in the remaining flour and ground almonds. Lightly fold in the fruit and nuts, then pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Level the surface with a spatula.
4. Bake for 2 hours, or until golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (If using a 9×9-inch pan, it may not take the full two hours, since the pan is not as deep.) Cover the cake loosely with aluminum foil after 1 hour to prevent the top from getting too dark.
5. When cake is done, let it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment and leave it to cool.
6. To make the almond paste, mix the ground almonds, superfine sugar and powdered sugar in a bowl. Stir in the egg and almond extract. Knead in the bowl to form a stiff paste, but don’t over-knead or it will become oily. Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside.
7. To make the fondant, place the gelatin, 2 tablespoons water, corn syrup and glycerin in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water and heat until the gelatin has dissolved (do not allow the water to boil or the gelatin to get too hot). Remove from heat.
8. Sieve half of the powdered sugar into a large bowl. Make a well in the center, add the gelatin mixture and, using a wooden spoon, mix together. Sift the remaining sugar onto the work surface and tip the mixture onto it. Knead together until the fondant is smooth and pliable. Reserve a thumb-size piece of white fondant for the tennis ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Little by little, add green food coloring to the remaining fondant and knead until it is a pale green color. Wrap in plastic wrap until ready to use.
9. To make the royal icing, whisk the egg whites in the large bowl of a stand mixer with the cream of tartar* until they become frothy. Mix in the sifted powdered sugar, a tablespoonful at a time. Beat the icing until it is very stiff and white and stands up in peaks. Cover the surface of the icing with plastic wrap until ready to use.
10. Divide the royal icing equally between 3 bowls. Color one bowl pale pink, and color the second bowl a light yellow. Leave the third bowl white.
11. Spoon most of the white royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a No. 3 writing tip. On a sheet of wax paper or a silicone mat, pipe the outline of two small tennis racquets (approximately 2½ inches long) and a tennis net about 4½ inches by 1¼ inch. Spoon the remaining white icing into a piping bag fitted with a No. 2 plain tip and pipe the strings of the tennis racquet within the tennis racquet outline and the strings of the net within the outline of the net. Leave to dry until you can peel them off the paper.
12. On a work surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll out the almond paste to a rectangle slightly larger than the cake. Neatly cut out a 9×6-inch rectangle and place it on a silicone mat or piece of parchment dusted with powdered sugar. (This will enable you to slip it onto the cake once the cake has cooled.)
13. Scrape any bits of almond paste off the work surface and lightly dust it with powdered sugar again. Roll out the fondant to a rectangle slightly larger than the cake. Neatly cut out a 9×6-inch rectangle and carefully place it on top of the almond paste.
14. When the cake has cooled, cut it to a 9×6-inch rectangle, if necessary. Then, gently lift the layers of almond paste and fondant onto the cake. If needed, trim to fit.
15. With the white royal icing in the piping bag with the No. 3 tip, pipe the outline of a tennis court onto the green fondant, leaving a ¾-inch-wide edge around the outside. Spoon the pink icing into a piping bag fitted with a small star tip, and spoon the yellow icing into a piping bag fitted with a smaller star tip. Using the pink and yellow icing, pipe a decorative border around the outside edge of the fondant.
16. Pipe a line of white icing across the middle of the tennis court. Peel the net off the wax paper and stick it onto the line of icing, so it stands up on its own. Lay the iced tennis rackets on either end of the court and, finally, roll a small tennis ball from the reserved white fondant and place it on the court.