Christmas fruit cake

This festive fruit cake is everything you can ask for.

PREP TIME  20 mins

TOTAL TIME 1hrs 50 mins

 SERVINGS 1 cake

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• 600 g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries, candied orange and lemon peeling)
• 150 ml rum
• 125 g butter (soft)
• 125 g dark brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 125 g plain flour
• 1 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50 g ground almonds

For the icing:

• 300 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp rum
• 2 tbsp milk

Instructions:

1. Add the dried fruit and rum to a pan set over a low to medium heat.
2. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the fruit soaks up the rum.
3. Remove from the heat, and leave the lid on for a further 5 minutes.
4. Beat the sugar with the butter until you get a thick paste.
5. Add the eggs one by one beating well after each addition to avoid the mixture curdling.
6. Add the baking powder, mixed spice, ground almonds and orange extract, and mix.
7. Sift in the flour and soaked fruit, and mix to get a thicker batter.
8. Grease and flour a round cake tin (23 cm) - ideally a tin with removable walls.
9. Spread the mixture evenly.
10. Bake in the preheated oven at 120 degrees Celsius for one hour, then increase the temperature to 150 degrees Celsius for a further 30 minutes until light brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
11. Leave to cool completely.
12. To make the icing, sift the icing sugar, add the rum and milk, and mix well to get a smooth thin mixture.
13. When the cake is cool, spread the icing over, and decorate with any decorations of your choice.