INGREDIENTS

THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED COOKERY BOOK
Edited by “Chef”
Associated Newspapers Ltd

1. 1 lb of flour
2. 1/2 lb castor sugar
3. 1 lb sultanas
4. 4 oz almonds
5. 1 lb currants
6. 1 teaspoonful mixed spice
7. a pinch of salt
8. 1/2 lb butter
9. 1/2 lb candied peel
10. about 5 or 6 eggs
11. 1 wine-glassful of brandy

Dry the flour and mix it well together with the salt and spices in a large basin.

Wash and dry the fruit well, and remove all stocks.

Stone the raisins and cut them in half.

Blanch and chop the almonds.

Shred the candied peel finely.

Put the butter into a warm basin. Soften it very sightly, but do not let it oil, then beat it well with the hands or with a very large wooden spoon.

Add the sugar, and continue to beat until the butter is quite creamy.

Add the eggs two at a time, beating well, and occasionally add a spoonful of flour to check the eggs from curdling.

Mix one or two tablespoonfuls of flour with the prepared fruit, then stir it in gradually beating it very well.

Add the almonds, and then, last of all, stir in the flour lightly, alternating with the brandy.

DO NOT BEAT THE MIXTURE AFTER THE FLOUR IS ADDED

Grease a tin well and line it with three or four layers of of greased paper.

Three parts fill the cake tin with the mixture, and place it on a baking tin thickly covered with sand and put them into a moderate oven.

This quantity takes 3 and 1/2 hours to cook. The oven must be hot enough to keep the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake, but after the first 20 minutes, the heat should be lowered a little and a steady state maintained.

When the cake begins to brown, cover it with a double sheet of wet white paper.

The last hour the heat of the oven may be lowered considerably for the cake to finish cooking through.

When cooked, turn it on to a sieve to cool, and remove the paper. It may then be wrapped in white paper or a cloth and kept for at least 2-3 months in a tin box with a well fitting lid.

All heavy rich fruit cakes are better for keeping as the ingredients seem to mellow and blend better with each other.

A few days before Christmas it may be coated with almond paste and then iced with ROYAL ICING.

The brandy may be omitted from this cake and sherry or port substituted.

COOKING TIME : 3 AND 1/2 HOURS

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