Mary Berry’s rich standard X-mas birthday cake dish is stuffed with fruit, in addition to nuts, brandy as well as treacle.
Double-line the cake tin along with well-buttered baking paper to stop the beyond the covered coming from drying during the course of the long preparing food opportunity.
Place a cycle or even area of greased baking newspaper in addition to the covered to prevent the top surface from browning a lot of.
Ingredients
- 425g currants
- 250g each sultanas and raisins
- 300g glacé cherries, quartered, rinsed and drained
- 150g ready-to-eat dried apricots, snipped into small pieces
- 75g mixed candied peel, roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp brandy, plus extra for pouring
- 300g plain flour
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 300g softened unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
- 300g dark muscovado sugar
- 5 medium free-range eggs
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
- Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
- 60g whole unblanched almonds, roughly chopped
Method
- Combine the dried fruit and candied peel in a large bowl. Add the 4 tbsp brandy and stir in to mix well. Cover and leave overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 140°C/fan120°C/gas 1. Put the remaining ingredients except the almonds in a large bowl. Beat with a hand-held electric mixer until well combined. Stir in the nuts and the soaked fruit with any soaking liquid.
- Grease a deep 23cm round tin or 20cm square cake tin with butter, line with a double layer of baking paper and grease the paper (see Golden Rules). Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Level the top and cover with a disc of baking paper.
- Bake for 4-5 hours until firm to the touch and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
- When the cake has cooled, remove the baking paper disc, pierce the top in several places with a skewer, then pour over a little brandy. Remove the cake from the tin but keep it in the baking paper. Wrap with more baking paper, then wrap with foil. Store in a cool place for up to 3 months to mature, occasionally unwrapping and spooning over 1-2 tbsp brandy.
- Decorate the cake with glacé fruit, marzipan or ready-to-use icing. Tie a ribbon around the cake if you like before serving.
