The night before making the Christmas cake put the currants, raisins, sultanas, mixed peel and glace cherries in a bowl and pour over the brandy. Cover with clingfilm.
Sift the flour, salt and spices into a bowl. Set aside.
Using either a stand mixer or by hand, cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs a little at a time and beat them into the sugar and butter mixture.
Fold the flour mixture in.
Stir in the dried fruit and golden syrup.
Grease and line two 15cm cake tins. Divide the mixture between the two tins. Alternatively put all the mixture into a 20cm tin to make one larger cake.
Bake the cakes in the oven for approximately 3.5 hours at 140C. Keep checking the cakes after 3 hours and testing with a skewer so they don't overbake.
Cool the cakes on a metal rack.
Wrap one of the cakes up in foil and save till christmas.
Crumble one of the cakes a little, put it in a bowl and pour over the brandy.Cover with cling film until the next day.
Cover a baking tray with baking parchment. Divide the marzipan into 10 equal pieces. Roll each one into a ball and insert a cake pop stick into it. Put the sticks onto the baking tray. Put in the freezer to set.
A couple of hours later, squash the Christmas cake mixture between your hands and fingers until it becomes like soft sticky crumbs.
Take handfulls of the christmas cake mixture and squash them onto the ends of the cake pop sticks around the marzipan. Put the sticks back in the freezer for a few hours.
Melt the chocolate slowly in the microwave until is has just all melted.
Put the sprinkles in bowls.
Line another baking tray with baking parchment.
Take a cake pop. Dip it in the chocolate and turn it around so it is completely covered in chocolate. Use a spoon if you need to spoon the chocolate over the cake pop. Let any excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
Dip the cake pop into the bowl with the sprinkles. Again use a spoon to reach the area where the cake pop meets the stick. Put the cake pop on the new baking tray. Repeat with all the cake pops.
Put them in the fridge for the chocolate to set and for the centre of the cake pop to defrost.
Notes
If you're short of time you could replace the homemade Christmas Cake with a ready-made one.