Make your festive cake NOW

Packed full of boozy fruit, it's a tea-time bonanza. By Hilary Biller

Ingredients:

200g dried cherries

200g glacé cherries

200g crimson raisins

375ml (1½ cups) brandy

100g almonds, chopped

185g butter, softened

125ml (½ cup) caster sugar

3 extra-large eggs

180g (1½ cups) cake flour, sieved

5ml (1 tsp) baking powder

5ml (1 tsp) ground ginger

7.5ml (1½ tsp) cinnamon

2.5ml (½ tsp) nutmeg

100ml milk

Method:

Soak cherries and raisins in 250ml (1 cup) brandy overnight. Next day add nuts. Preheat oven to 150°C. Cream butter and sugar. Mix in eggs one at a time. Add flour, baking powder, spices and soaked fruit and nuts. Stir in milk. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin. Wrap 3 sheets of folded newspaper around the outside of cake pan, securing with string (this helps keep the cake moist). Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 2hours. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out. Pour over the remaining brandy and cool completely. Wrap in foil until ready to eat. If keeping for long, pour over 30ml (2 tbsp) brandy once a week.