For a 9in 23cm cake
- 1025g fruit – currants, raisins, sultanas
- 350g or more glace cherries – keep them whole
- Half a small bottle of brandy for soaking the fruit
- Grated zest of 2 oranges and 2 lemons
- 250g butter
- 250g light muscovada
- 4 eggs
- 100g ground almonds
- 75g self-raising flour
- 175g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- ½tsp coriander
- ½ tsp cumin
Method
- Soak the fruit (not the cherries) in the brandy for a week
- Grease and line the deep tin with greaseproof and preheat the oven to gas 3
- Mix all the ingredients and then add in the fruit. Add some of the orange juice if it seems to dry.
- Bake in the oven for one hour at gas 3 and then reduce to gas 1 for a further 3 hours
- Check occasionally – a skewer should come out clean