SOME OF MY FAVOURITE RECIPES


FESTIVE FRUIT CAKE

A great Christmas cake.


INGREDIENTS
I have changed this recipe slightly to suit my family's taste,
but nevertheless it still is a great cake

350g sultana
350 g currants		 150 g glace cherries, chopped
85 g glace apricot, chopped		 85 g glace pineapple, chopped
90 g blanched almonds
1/3 cup brandy
1/3 cup cold black tea		 2 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
pinch of salt		 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spices		 250 g butter, softened 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups brown sugar - using dark brown sugar makes a darker cake. 3 tablespoons marmalade 4 eggs
TO GLAZE
1/2 cup of apricot jam,pecans, glace cherries, angelica and candied peel.

I don't ice or glaze my cakes but just put almonds on the top before cooking.

METHOD
Line a 20 cm round of square cake tin. Cut two circle or squares of brown paper and two of Glad Bake the size of the base of the tin, then a strip of Glad Bake longenough to go around the sides of the tin allowing a good overlap and about 5 cm higher. Make slantwise cuts along one edge of the paper about 3 cm high.
Put in the two brown paper bases then fit the long strip of paper inside with the snipped margin lying flat around the bottom. Put the two glad bake bases over this.

Mix together the fruit and almond, sprinkle over the tea and brandy and allow to sit overnight. Sift together the flours, spices and salt.
Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. This can take at least 20 minutes.

Then add the vanilla and marmalade . Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the flour and fruit mixture alternately to the creamed mixture a little at a time, ending with flour. Mix thoroughly. Spoon mixture into the prepared tin and smooth top with a back of a spoon.

Lift tin and allow to drop on a flat surface to break up any air bubbles. Place almonds on top if desired. Surround the tin with a strip of brown paper about twice the height of the tin and rest a brown paper bag on top.

Place in oven and bake at 150¡c for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until cake is firm to touch and cooked when tested with a fine skewer. Allow cake to cool in tin before turning out. Leave paper on cake, wrap in two thicknesses of foiland store in an airtight container.

When ready to decorate, warm the apricot jam and push through a sieve. Brush over top of cake and make a garland of fruits and nuts around the edge.



Macadamia nut & banana cake
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