Christmas Fruit Cake

By XrayKim

Ingredients

• 1.375 kg Mixed Fruit
• 250 g Butter
• 1 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons golden syrup
• 3/4 cups water
• 1 cup Sherry
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 4 Large eggs
• 1/2 cup Sherry
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon Lemon essence
• 1/2 teaspoon almond essence
• 1 teaspoon bicard soda
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 cup Self raising flour
• 1 cup almonds (chopped)
• 3 tablespoons Sherry

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 210mins
Adapted from baby-mac.com

Preparation

Step 1

Step 1
Put the first 10 ingredients into a saucepan then bring to the boil and boil for about three minutes. Leave to cool.
Step 2
While this was cooling into a bowl I added in the eggs, the sherry and the essences and gave them all a good whisk. This then gets added into the cooled fruit mixture.
Step 3
Now you need to really line your tin well. This means old school lining...perhaps even two layers of baking paper into a well greased tin allowing some extra out of the top of the tin. I draw a circle of the base of the tin onto the paper and then cut out for the base and then just a long strip for the sides. I had tips of cooking the cake on newspaper in the oven and brown paper on top to make sure it doesn't colour too much.
Step 4
Now you need to get your dry ingredients sorted. Sift the flours, chop the nuts and dissolve the bicarb into the hot water and add it into the wet fruit & egg mixture, folding the flour in as you go.
Step 5
Pour the mixture into the well lined tin and cover the top before placing into that 160 degree oven for 3 hours. I placed a few almonds on the top but you could go Christmas crackers with the decos...think red and red cherries a go-go! My tin was a big 23cm tin (this also would be enough mixture for 2 smaller 18cm/20cm tins).
Step 6
6. After 3 hours take the hot cake out of the oven and pour over 3 tablespoons of sherry on top of the hot cake (it will sizzle away) and then let cool for a little while.
Step 7
Wrap the cake in the tin in a bath towel. She leaves the cake in the tin and the towel in her spare bedroom until she is ready to deal with it...that could be weeks later.
Step 8
The next day (or it could be a few weeks later) take the cake out of the tin, wrap it in foil and transfer to an airtight container.