INGREDIENTS
750 g currants
750 g yellow sultanas
1 kg seedless raisins
750 g pitted dates
500 g mixed lemon peel
1,5 kg mixed glazed fruit (e.g. watermelon, figs, pineapple etc.)
1 kg red glazed cherries
1 litre Wellington brandy
1 kg cake flour
65 ml (¼ cup + 1 tsp) mixed herbs
10 ml (2 tsp) salt
250 g flaked almonds
500 g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
1 kg (2 blocks) Clover Mooi River butter
750 ml (3 cups) Treacle brown sugar
18 eggs
10 ml (2 tsp) baking soda
15 ml (1 tbsp) white vinegar
125 ml (½ cup) fine apricot jam
150 g (1 bottle) ginger pieces in syrup
(syrup must be used as well)
TOPPING
2,5 litre Bertram brandy
Method
This is a very large recipe. You can make 10 cakes of 1 kg each from this batter.
Place the currants, sultanas, raisins, dates, lemon peel, glazed fruit, cherries and 1 litre Wellington brandy in a large bowl. Cover it and leave it overnight.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, almonds and pecan nuts together.
Cream the butter and sugar until light yellow in colour. Add the eggs and beat until well mixed.
Mix the baking soda and the vinegar well. Add it to the butter mixture.
Add the apricot jam to the butter mixture, and stir until everything is well mixed.
Line 10 cake tins with a diameter of 18 cm with double layers of baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 140 °C.
Mix the fruit mixture, flour mixture, ginger pieces with syrup into the butter mixture,nand stir well.
Divide the batter between the cake tins. Even the batter out on top.
Bake the fruit cakes at 140 °C for 1 hour. Lower the temperature to 120 °C and bake the cakes for another 6 to 7 hours or until a testing skewer emerges clean from the middle of the fruit cake.
TOPPING
Pour 100 ml Wellington brandy over each fruit cake as it comes out of the oven.
That is 100 ml per 100 g fruit cake.
CLOVER INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS RECIPE