Dundee Fruit Cake

This is a lovely cake with a very faint hint of whisky to enhance the flavour. It’s not a heavy rich fruit cake and its often served at Christmas time for those who don't like such a rich fruit cake. A wonderful cake to have at hand if guests arrive and it also keeps well in an airtight tin.

Dundee Fruit Cake

Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients
350g (12 oz) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp mixed spice
175g (6 oz) sultanas
110g (4 oz) currants
50g (2 oz) candied peel
50g (2 oz) glace cherries
Zest of 1 orange
3 tbsp whisky
25g (1 oz) chopped blanched almonds
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) butter
3 eggs
6 – 8 tbsp milk
Extra whole blanched almonds for decoration


Method

Preheat oven 180°C/fan oven 150°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. You will need a 20cm (8 in) springform tin, grease and line with baking paper.

The night before baking the cake, in a bowl soak all the fruit and zest in the whisky covered with cling film.

Next day, in a bowl add the butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and beat them in well until all combined.

Sieve the flour, baking powder and spices together. Fold in gently the flour mixture and milk in two batches into the mixture in the bowl. Add the extra two tablespoons of milk if the mixture seems dry.

Add all the fruit and zest that has been soaking in whisky with the chopped blanched almonds and fold them all in gently.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and level the top. Add the extra-blanched almonds to the top of the cake in a circle.

Place into a preheated oven middle shelf and bake for 1½ - 1¾ hours. The cake will feel firm to touch and a golden brown when cooked or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack until completely cool.

Note: If the top is becoming to brown in the oven cover with a circle of baking paper to help prevent the top from burning.