Christmas cake recipe

I have found that if I soak the fruit for about a week I don’t need to feed the cake.

For a 9″ round or 8″ square tin take

3 lbs of dried fruit: go for a mix a bit like this: 13oz raisons, 10 oz sultanas 6oz dried cranberries, 4 oz dried blueberries, 6 oz glace cherries, 6 oz of chopped dates, 3 oz of mixed peel (if you like it). Mix it all around in the bowl and throw in a mans handful of ground almonds.

Add a generous teaspoon of Christmas/Allspice and a teaspoon of mixed spice. Stir it in.

SOAKING: If you can use alcohol I recommend either a can of Mackesons or half a can of Guinness (drink the other half or soak up some beef for beef and stout pie later). You can also add a splash of brandy or some such thing.

If you are not able to use alchohol then soak the fruit in about 9fl oz of orange juice and the juice of a lemon. You can add the lemon zest to the mixture.

Leave it for at least overnight but better yet a little longer.

In a large pan put 9oz of soft brown sugar, 13 oz of butter or marg and 3 desertspoons of black treacle.

Put it on the hob on a fairly low heat and just melt it all together. Once it is melted and a lovely black treaclely gloopy mix then let it cool a little and then pour in the fruit and mix it all together.

Now-it’s the bit where you either need arms that work well or a daughter with arms that work well.

Enter Iona:

Add 6oz of plain flour and 6oz of wholemeal self raising flour (or make the plain wholemeal and the SR white) Add 4 eggs and another splash of orange (or brandy) and mix it together.

Pour into a greased and lined tin and put on the bottom shelf of the oven on gas mark 1or 2 (140 C 275 F) for about 3 and half hours.

It makes a lovely dark rich and moist cake. Marzipan and ice to your preference.