8 oz plain flour 1 lb mixed fruit and peel 8 oz butter ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
8 oz dark brown sugar ½ teaspoon mixed spice
4 eggs ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons treacle (don't go mad!)
Soak the dried fruit overnight in about two tablespoons of alcohol (sherry, brandy, whisky or anything you fancy) Mix the butter, sugar and treacle until smooth. Prepare an 8 in square cake tin with double greaseproof paper and set the oven to 140 C (gas mark 2 but be prepared to turn it down to mark 1 after ½ hour) Whisk the eggs well. Add the eggs to the butter mixture and combine the spices with the flour. Add the flour to the rest of the ingredients and add everything together. If the egg mixture seems to curdle, don't worry as it will clear as soon as you put the flour in and it won't affect the taste. Cover the cake carefully with more greaseproof paper, be careful not to touch the top of the cake, then place it in the middle of the oven. Sue Q found that it took 3 ½ hours to cook, and it could have benefited from another ½ hour. This recipe was adapted from one that used ½ the quantities and used a 5 inch round cake tin.