Mabel's Mallaig Christmas Cake

My dear friend,

We always had a cake like this at Christmas when I was a girl in Mallaig. No icing, no fuss, just a good slice with a cup of tea by the fire. Start soaking the fruit the night before, and the kitchen will smell like Christmas for days.

Mabel

Unlike a traditional iced Christmas cake, this one doesn't need making weeks ahead. Bake it a few days before Christmas, or whenever you fancy a slice of something festive. It makes one 20cm round cake.

Ingredients

• 400g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and currants)
• 75g dried apricots, chopped to about the size of a raisin (or another fruit of your choice, see tips)
• 50g mixed peel
• 75ml whisky (or orange juice)
• Zest of 1 orange
• 175g butter, softened
• 175g light muscovado sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tbsp marmalade, plus 1 tbsp to glaze (optional)
• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50g ground almonds
• 50g whole blanched almonds, for the top

Method

1. The night before, put the dried fruit, apricots and peel in a bowl with the whisky and orange zest. Cover and leave to soak.
2. Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas 2). Grease and line a deep 20cm round tin with baking paper.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with each. Stir in 2 tbsp marmalade.
4. Fold in the rest of the flour with the baking powder, mixed spice and ground almonds, then the soaked fruit and any liquid left in the bowl.
5. Spoon into the tin and level the top. Arrange the whole almonds in circles on top, resting them gently without pressing in.
6. Bake for 2 to 2¼ hours, until a skewer comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil after the first hour.
7. Leave to cool completely in the tin. For a shine, brush the top with 1 tbsp warmed marmalade (optional).
8. Wrapped in baking paper and kept in a tin, it keeps well for a couple of weeks.

Tips

• Forgot the almonds? Toast them in a dry pan until golden, brush the cooled cake with warm marmalade and press them on top. Nobody will know.
• Not a fan of whisky? Use orange juice instead, or half and half.
• Not keen on apricots? Swap them for 75g of another fruit you like, such as glacé cherries (halved), dried cranberries or chopped dates. Or simply add an extra 75g of the mixed dried fruit.

Mabel's free recipe card

Would you like to keep this recipe in your kitchen? We've made it into a free printable recipe card, with the ingredients on the front and the method on the back. Download Mabel's free recipe card.

This recipe is from our Christmas booklet, A Christmas on Cornflower Lane, full of gift ideas, stocking fillers and a few treats from Hattie and Mabel.

Best wishes,
The Cornflower Lane team