| CATEGORY | CUISINE | TAG | YIELD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs | Cakes | 1 | Servings | |
INGREDIENTS
| 1 | lb | Currants |
| 6 | oz | Golden raisins (sultanas) |
| 6 | oz | Raisins |
| 2 | oz | Glace cherries, rinced, |
| Dried, and finely chopped | ||
| 2 | oz | Mixed candied peel, finely |
| Chopped | ||
| 3 | tb | Brandy (I use apple brandy) |
| 8 | oz | All purpose flour |
| 1/2 | ts | Salt |
| 1/4 | ts | Nutmeg |
| 1/2 | ts | Mixed spice |
| 8 | oz | Unsalted butter |
| 8 | oz | Soft brown sugar |
| 4 | lg | Eggs |
| 2 | oz | Almonds, chopped (the skins |
| cn | Be left on) | |
| 1 | tb | Black treacle |
| Grated zest of 1 lemon | ||
| Grated zest of 1 orange | ||
| 4 | oz | Whole blanched almonds (if |
| You don't intend to ice the | ||
| Cake) |
INSTRUCTIONS
You'll need a 3 inch tall 8 inch round cake tin or a 7 inch square tin, greased and lined with wax paper or parchment. Important! Tie a band of brown paper around the outside of the tin for extra protection. Since the cake cooks so long, we want to keep it from burning around the edges and being raw in the center. You need to begin this cake the night before you want to bake it. All you do is weigh out the dried fruit and mixed peel, place it in a mixing bowl, and mix in the brandy as evenly and thoroughly as possible. Cover the bowl with a clean tea cloth and leave the fruit aside to absorb the brandy for 12 hours. Next day preheat the oven to gas mark 1, 275 degrees F (140 C). Then measure out all of the reast of the ingredients, ticking them off to make sure they are all there. The treacle will be easier to measure if you remove the lid and place the tin in a small pan of barely simmering water. Now, begin the cake by sifting the flour, salt and spices into a large mixing bowl, lifting the sieve high to give the flour a good airing. Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar together until it's light, pale, and fluffy. Next, beat the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the creamed mixture a tablespoon full at a time; keep the whisk running until all the egg is incoporated. (Note: an electric whisk is a mixer to us Yanks). If you add the eggs slowly by degrees like this, the mixture won''t curdle. If it does, don't worry, any cake full of such beautiful things can't fail to taste good! When all the egg has been added, fold in the flour and spices, using gentle folding movements and not beating at all (this is to keep all the precious air in). Now fold in the fruit, peel, chopped nuts and treacle, and finally the grated lemon and orange zests. Next, using a large kitchen spoon, transfer the cake mixture into the prepared tin, spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon and, if you don't intend to ice the cake, lightly drop the whole blanched almonds in circles or squares all over the surface. Finally, cover the top of the cake with a double square of greaseproof (wax) paper with a 50p (about a silver dollar) size hole in the center (this gives extra protection during the long slow cooking). Bake the cake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 4 1/2 to 4 3/4 hours. Sometimes it can take up to 1/2 - 3/4 hour longer than this but in any case don't look until 4 hours have passed. Cool the cake for 30 minutes in the tin, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling. When it''s cold 'feed' it by sprinkling brandy on top if it (if you''d like to do this). Wrap it in double greaseproof paper secured with an elastic band and either wrap again in foil or store in an airtight tin. You can now feed it at odd intervals until you need to ice or eat it. To ice it, I cover it with 1/2 to 1 pound of marzipan, then use either rolled fondant icing OR royal icing. (But I''m sick of typing now so am not going to type THOSE instructions! Anyone who wants them, please send me mail or something). Note: an electric whisk is a mixer. File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/mmkah001.zip
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