Christmas cake disaster

[Dopeydonut]

So,,,, decided to bake a Christmas cake this year. Made one years ago but have had shop brought every year since.

I soaked the fruit in sherry for 3 days, made the actually cake mixed the fruit in and cooked for 3 hours on a low heat. Looked perfect when it came out of the oven. Now that it has cooled down the top has gone really hard. The underneath feels quite soft but about 1cm deep from the top feels solid.

I doubt this is saveable but thought if anybody will know what to do it's you lot. And if nothing else can atleast try and explain where I went wrong :(

As long as it's not actually burned then it's salvageable - give it a drink of brandy or sherry, wrap it well in greaseproof or foil and put it away for a couple of weeks. The moisture content should even out and soften the top up.

If the worst comes to the worst once you get to icing it you could just cut the top off. I think it will soften up if you feed it with alcohol regularly.

Add brandy to it every two weeks between now and Christmas and it will be perfectly moist on the day. Mine is hard on the top every year straight out of the oven, I think it's the long baking time, but the liberal brandy application saves it

I put a double piece of greasproof paper on my cake whilst it's baking as soon as it starts browning on the top to help prevent burning and drying out.
Turn the cake upside down, prick all over with a skewer and 'feed' it with sherry, brandy or even whisky. Wrap in greasproof and foil, ensure there are no gaps. Store upside down and feed the cake every two weeks. If when you are ready to marzipan the cake it's is still rock hard just slice a layer off.