Читать книгу The British Baking Book - Regula Ysewijn - Страница 52

55

For 8–10 people

For the soaked fruit

5¹⁄

³

cups (790 g) sultanas (golden

raisins)

2 cups (285 g) raisins

1½ cups (225 g) currants

heaping ½ cup (115 g) glacé cherries,

cut into quarters

²⁄

³

cup (115 g) candied citrus peel

grated zest of 1 lemon

grated zest of 1 orange

¾ cup cognac

For the cake

1½ cups (340 g) butter, at room

temperature

1½ cups (340 g) light brown sugar

½ tsp natural almond extract

seeds of 1 vanilla bean or

1½ tsp natural vanilla extract

6 eggs

3¹⁄

³

cups (400 g) plain white flour

1 cup (85 g) almond meal

1½ tsp mixed spice (or pumpkin

pie spice)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

3 Tbsp orange marmalade

butter, for greasing

cognac, to feed the cake

For a round 8½- to 9-inch springform tin

When it comes to fruit cake, it is very important to wrap the tin so that the sides

of the cake don’t burn or dry out during baking. Grease the tin with butter and

cover the base and sides with a double layer of parchment paper. Fold a piece of

brown paper in half, then wrap it around the outside of the tin and secure with

kitchen string. Fold a square of brown paper to sit the cake on in the oven, and fold

another square to put on top of the tin during baking. Remove this sheet of paper

about 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Preparing the tin in this way

will ensure that your cake cooks evenly. Some people also use newspaper to tie

around the tin.

The day before you begin baking, soak all of the fruit and the citrus zest in the

cognac. It needs to soak for at least 12 hours.

Preheat your oven to 250°F.

Put the butter and brown sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy, then mix

in the almond extract and vanilla seeds or extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, and

make sure that each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one.

Add a teaspoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture from separating.

Stir in the remaining flour, the almond meal, and the spices, mixing well.

Add the marmalade to the soaked fruit and cognac, then gradually add the fruit

mixture to the cake batter while gently stirring it with your hand or a spatula.

Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for about 3½–4 hours. Allow the cake to

cool in the tin. When the cake has cooled down, pierce it all over with a thin skewer

and feed it by spooning over 4 tablespoons of cognac. Wrap the cake in parchment

paper and then in plastic wrap and foil, and store in an airtight container.

You can feed the cake with cognac every few weeks. Becky likes to make the cake

three months in advance, but you can also make it just a month ahead. You can,

of course, immediately enjoy the cake as it is.