Ingredients
- 225g (8oz) plain flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 225g (8 oz) butter
- 225g (8 oz) Muscovado sugar
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- 85g (3 oz) ground almonds
- 625g (1lb 6oz) mixed fruit, currants, sultanas and raisins
- 115g (4 oz) mixed chopped peel
- 55g (2 oz) crystallised pineapple, chopped
- 55g (2 oz) dried cranberries
- 85g (3 oz) dried apricots, chopped
- 85g (3 oz) crystallised papaya pieces, chopped
- 115g (4 oz) glacé cherries cut into quarters
- 3 tbsp brandy
Decoration:
- Glacé fruits
- Walnut halves
- Brazil nuts
- Apricot glaze
Method
Preparation time: 50 minutes. Cooking time: 6 hours.
- Line the base of a 23cm (9 inch) round spring form cake tin.
- Sieve the flour and the spices together. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, which should be at room temperature, adding a tablespoon of flour to prevent curdling towards the end.
- Fold in the remaining flour, ground almonds and fruit until thoroughly mixed. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
- Place the cake tin on the grid shelf on the floor of the simmering oven and cook for about 5½-6 hours until cooked.
- Test with a skewer; if a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean, it is cooked. Or if the cake has stopped ‘singing’ it is an indication that it is done. Leave in the tin for 30 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Prick the surface of the cake with a skewer and spoon the brandy over.
Tips
- Wrap in foil until required. Decorate with glacé fruits and nuts, brush with apricot glaze to give a shiny finish.
Other Recipe Suggestions
AGA Red Onion Baubles
Individual onions stuffed with sage-spiced sausage meat, bejeweled with sweetcorn and cranberries, make the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas centerpiece or a delightful light lunch on their own. Many thanks to AGA Specialist Dawn Roads for this wonderful recipe as part of our Christmas around the world series.
AGA Cranberry and Pistachio Shortbread
This recipe is very festive with its red and green ingredients and makes for a delightful gift popped into a food safe cellophane bag, tied with a red ribbon.
AGA Christmas Pudding
The Christmas pudding started life as a simple pottage; which over Yuletide people enhanced with expensive spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg.
Simnel Cake
Traditionally a cake made by girls in service for their Mothers on Mothering Sunday, not only as a gift but as an indication of their baking skills. Nowadays it is eaten as an Easter cake.
