Donna Hay's Grandma's Fruit Cake

I've made this fruit cake a while back. Using Donna Hay's Grandma's Fruit Cake as the base, for the dried fruits, I just got a pack of 500g mixed fruits and added in almond slivers and some currants. I placed them in a glass jar and pour in enough brandy (or you can use rum) to macerate them for a few days in the fridge.

As I was combining the ingredients, I did not add all of the fruits. I just estimated according to how much fruits I liked in the cake. I've also added some crushed macadamia nuts. The cake came out beautifully but a bit dry though due to my cranky oven! Remedied by pouring in some brand every day for a few days :p

Grandma's Fruit Cake

3 cups raisins
1 1/4 cups sultanas
3/4 cup currants
2/3 cup candied mixed peel
1 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup brandy
250g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 teaspoon ground cinamon
1/2 tsp ground all spice
2-3 tablespoons brandy, extra

Place the fruit and nuts in a bowl & pour over the brandy. Cover & allow to soak overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 140C. Place the butter & sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer & beat until light & creamy. Gradually add the eggs & beat well.

Place the butter & fruit mixtures, flour, baking soda, all spice & cinnamon into a large bowl and mix together to combine. Line a 20cm (8 inch) square cake tin with two layers of non stick baking paper.

Spoon in the mixture & bake for 2 hours or until cooked. Pour over the extra brandy while cake is still hot. Cool in tin. Serves 12.

Ref: Modern Classics Book 2, Donna Hay

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