Aunty Pat’s Christmas Cake

My Aunty Pat’s Christmas cake is the same recipe that she used for our wedding cake and it was really good.

As with all the old recipes that seem to get down, this was given me as a list of ingredients because I am supposed to know how to make a cake lol.

Ingredients

• 1lb 2oz plain flour

• 1/2 ox mixed spice

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 lb butter softened

• 1 lb soft brown sugar

• Grated rind and juice from 1 lemon

• 9 eggs

• 1 1/2lb mixed dried fruit - whatever you like I have used apricots, raisins, sultanas, blueberries, prunes, currants

• 4 oz glacé cherries chopped

• 4 oz cut peel

• 4 oz ground almonds

• Brandy or rum to soften the cake mixture ( I usually soak my dried fruit in a couple tablespoons of rum while I am mixing the cake)

Directions

1. Beat softened butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

2. Sift flour, salt and spices into a bowl

3. Beat eggs together

4. Add eggs a tablespoon at a time to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, mixing after each addition.

5. Fold in the flour and spices.

6. Fold in the ground almonds, glacé cherries, dried fruit, grated lemon zest and juice.

7. Put the mixture in a large prepared cake tin (Greased or lined with parchment paper).

8. Bake slowly at 275 degrees F on the bottom shelf until it’s done. Don’t look at it for at least 4 hours.

9. Cool it for 30 mins in the tin then put on a wire rack

10. When it’s cool wrap in greasproof paper and put in an airtight tin or wrap in tin foil.

To feed your cake

1. Unwrap your cake and turn it upside down

2. Use a skewer or fork to prick a series of holes all over the bottom of the cake.

3. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of brandy, rum or whisky over the bottom of the cake.

4. Wrap the cake back up in greaseproof paper, then tin foil and put in an airtight tin.

5. You can repeat the feeding process every week but alternate feeding from top and bottom.

6. If the cake makes the work surface damp, appears wet or stodgy, stop feeding it.