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Posted: Thursday 24 November, 2005

by Rosemary at 8:06pm in Recipes Comments closed

Here's one of the recipes I use for Christmas cake. It's very rich and dark (like Dan!). I've made two - we ate one but the second one is living in the pantry and being fed brandy weekly. It's dead easy.

7" square or 8" round tin, greased and lined with greasproof paper.

1lb currants, 6oz sultanas, 6oz raisins, 2oz glace cherries, washed, dried and chopped, 2oz mixed candied peel, chopped.

Soak the fruit in 3 tablespoons of brandy overnight.

Sift 8oz plain flour, 0.5 teaspoon salt, 0.25 teaspoon grated nutmeg, 0.5 teaspoon mixed spice into a bowl.

In a large bowl, cream 8oz unsalted butter with 8oz soft brown sugar. You will add the flour and the fruit later, so make sure the bowl is big enough.

Beat four size 1 eggs, then whsk them into the creamed butter and sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Adding the egg slowly will stop the mixture curdling - but don't worry if it does.

Now, fold the flour etc into the creamed mixture - gently to keep the air in. Fold in the soaked fruit then add 2oz chopped almonds, a dessertspoon of black treacle, grated zest of an orange and a lemon.

Put the mixture in the tin and cover the top with a double layer of greaseproof paper with a small 50p sized hole cut in the middle. Bake at GM1, 275 / 140 degrees for a minimum of four hours. You might need another 30-45 minutes, though. Check if it's ready by pushing a skewer into the cake - if it comes out clean it's ready.

I've overcooked this cake in the past, so err on the short side (but not less than four hours) and test for readiness. Also, don't use a fan oven, if you can avoid it. I've had much better results this year using the oven on a conventional setting.

Let the cake cool for 30 minutes in the tin, then let it get cold on a rack. Once it's completely cold, you can feed it with brandy before wrapping it in greasproof and tin foil until you're ready to decorate it or eat it.

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