Dave's Favourite Fruit Cake

Don't know where this one originated, but I started making it some years ago now, once or twice for Christmas, and latterly, appropriately fortified with brandy, as a treat on long van trips. We use the magnificent Felicity's Fruitcake for Christmas these days.

You will need

1.150 kg total of fruit cake mix plus chopped figs, apricots, candied peel, glace cherries, etc

100g coarsely chopped nuts

250g butter

1 cup soft brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup total any or some or all of brandy, orange juice, water

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 tablespoon golden syrup

5 eggs, lightly beaten

2.25 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and stir over heat until melted and dissolved. Simmer for 10 minutes and cover. Allow to cool. (Takes some time. Do this the night before.)
In a large bowl mix together eggs and syrup.
Add fruit mix and stir
Add flour and stir to combine. (make sure there are no pockets of dry flour left in the mix.) Recipe came with instructions to sift flour. I do not own a flour seive and do not seem the poorer for that.
Lightly oil and flour a 20-25 cm square cake tin and line with baking paper. Pour contents of bowl into the tin and smooth surface. At this point you can make a pattern with raw almonds if you wish on the surface, if you do not intend to ice it.
Bake in centre of 150C oven for approx 2 hours. Test from about 90 minutes with a skewer to see whether it has cooked or not.

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