Cinnamony goodness combined with fragrant spices, hints of citrus and added almonds — this ultra-flavourful spiced almond hot cross bun cake bursts with the aromas of Easter. Give it a cloak of cream cheese frosting and top with toasted coconut for a subtle crunch and a little wow factor!

Prep time: 25 minutes | Cook time: 1 hr 15 minutes |Serves: 8–10

For the cake:

• 5 eggs
• ¼ cup (60ml) buttermilk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 140g flour
• 300g castor sugar
• 150g ground almonds
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• 225g butter, melted
• Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
• 30g desiccated coconut
• 1½ tsp all spice
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• 250g Lancewood cream cheese
• 80g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional)
• Juice of ½ lemon

For the marzipan cross:

• 100g blanched almonds (if you don’t have a powerful food processor, use ground almonds)
• 250g Lancewood or Woolworths cream cheese (these have a firmer texture than other brands)
• 100g castor sugar
• 1 egg white
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Decoration:

• 1 pkt (200g) coconut flakes

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl with the buttermilk and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, ground almonds and baking powder. Then add in the coconut, zest and spices. Melt the butter and allow to cool slightly.
4. Add the eggs to the dry mixture and mix, then add the melted butter.
5. Bake in a deep 20cm deep springform cake tin, or 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove from the oven when the cake bounces back to the touch, and allow to cool on a wire rack. If the cake starts to get too brown but is not cooked, keep it in the oven and cover loosely with tinfoil.
6. Place the coconut flakes on a baking sheet and toast in the hot oven for 5–10 minutes to tinge the edges with a little golden brown.
7. For the icing, mix together cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla and lemon. Beat to a smooth icing.
8. Next make the marzipan for the top of the bun. Blitz the almonds to a fine powder in a food processor with the castor sugar. Remove and place in a small bowl. Add the egg white and cinnamon and blend to form a paste.

9. Ice the cake with the cream cheese icing and set aside.
10. To make the marzipan cross (which is entirely optional) roll out the marzipan using icing sugar to prevent sticking. Cut two thin ribbons in approximately the same diameter as your cake (20 cm) for the two lengths of the cross. Bake the two lengths of the cross for a few minutes in the oven. Remove and allow to cool completely, then place on top of the cake and decorate with your toasted coconut flakes.

Keep in the fridge and remove at least half an hour before serving. This is the hot cross bun going gourmet — we hope you decide to take on the adventure of baking this cake this Easter.