Christmas cake(british)
2 lb Mixed dried fruit
4 oz Glace' cherries
4 oz Candied fruit
3 oz blanched almonds
10 oz Plain flour
1 x Pinch salt
1/4 ts Bicarbonate of soda
1 t Mixed spice
4 x Eggs
1/2 ts Flavoring (vanilla, lemon)
1 tb Blackstrap molasses
8 oz butter
8 oz Soft brown sugar
1 x Whisky to soak fruit
250 ml Milk (to mix)
(Note: (1) The mixed dried fruit should be such things
as seedless raisins and currants. (2) The 1/2 teaspoon
of "flavoring" can be almond, or lemon, or vanilla, or
a mixture of the three. (3) "Mixed spice" is a
combination of cinnamon, allspice and mace: about 1/3
of each.) -- Find a 9-inch cake pan at least three
inches deep; grease it, and line the bottom and sides
with a double thickness of greased baking parchment.
Tie folded brown paper or newspaper around the outside
of the pan. (The paper is insulation, to keep the
sides of the cake from scorching as it bakes.) Set
oven to 320-300F: have folded paper to stand the pan
on when baking -- place low in oven. Pick over the
dried fruit, removing any stems, etc. Wash, drain well
and spread over a cloth on a tray to dry. When dry,
put in a bowl and pour a small wine-glass of spirit
over it. Cover well and leave overnight. -- Next day,
add chopped peel, blanched chopped almonds, and
cherries minced and drained. Mix thoroughly. Sift
together the flour, salt, soda and spice. Beat the
eggs well with the molasses and flavoring. Put the
butter into a large warmed bowl and beat until soft;
then add the sugar and beat until light and creamy.
Beat in the egg mixture, about a sixth of it at a
time, then fold in half the flour mixture. Add
remainder of the flour to the fruit and mix well. Add
fruit to creamed mixture and fold in well. Put into
pan and bake for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until done.
If top of cake is browning too fast, cover with a few
thicknesses of paper. Reduce the oven heat slightly
every hour -- about 10 degrees. Test with skewer for
doneness. Keep the paper wrapped around the cake in
place until completely cooled, so that the cooling
takes place slowly. After completely cooled, invert
the cake, lift the baking parchment off the bottom,
and sprinkle the cake generously with the spirit of
your choice. Wrap well in foil, put in a sealed tin,
and keep in a cool place (not necessarily
refrigerated) . The cake benefits from occasional
unwrappings and sprinkling with more spirit. It takes
about 2 months to achieve maximum "mellowness".
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