Christmas Cake
makes one 23cm cake or 4 small cakes
Ingredients
- 750g of fruit cake mix
- 500g of your favourite dried fruit or nuts (glace cherries, dried apricots, pineapple, mango, blueberries, cranberries, almonds, walnuts, cashews etc etc)
- ½ cup of brandy or whiskey or sherry
- 250g of butter
- 1 cup of brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 5 eggs
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of mixed spice
- Extra brandy for basting
Method
- Line the base and sides of your cake tins with 2 layers of baking paper.
- Combine all your chosen dried fruit and brandy into a bowl.
- Cream butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs quickly, one at a time and beat.
- Stir in the fruit mixture and add the nuts (if you have chosen to use nuts). Stir in the flour and mixed spice.
- Spread evenly into the prepared tins and bake at 150 C for about 2 1/2 hours. (The small cakes take about 1 hour 25 minutes).
- Let the cakes cool in the tins, brush the top with the extra brandy.
- Wrap tightly with foil and keep in a dark cool pantry (away from sunlight).
- Every 10 to 14 days unwrap the cakes and brush with brandy again. Wrap up tightly again.
- The cakes will keep for 3 months and they taste better the older they get!
