Fruitcake recipe

Ingredients

• 2 peeled and grated Granny Smith apples
• 700 g dried fruit cake mix
• 50 g pitted and chopped dates
• 125 ml candied mixed peel
• 2 naartjies rind
• 2 rind lemons
• 250 ml brandy
• 250 g cake flour
• a pinch of salt
• 2.5 ml ground nutmeg
• 2.5 ml ground ginger
• 2.5 ml ground cinnamon
• 2.5 ml mixed spice
• 200 g softened butter
• 200 g demerara sugar
• 2.5 ml vanilla paste
• 5 extra large eggs
• 45 ml brandy

1. Place the apple, cake fruit mixture, chopped dates, mixed peel and naartjie and lemon rind into a bowl. Pour over the brandy and leave to macerate overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 140 °C. Grease and line the base of a 12 cm square cake pan and a 17 cm square cake pan with two sheets of baking paper each.
To make the Cake
3. Sift the dry ingredients three times, and set aside. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating continuously until all the eggs have been added. Halfway through adding the eggs, add 2 tablespoons of the sifted dry ingredients – this prevents the mixture from splitting. Fold in the remaining dry ingredients, and soaked fruit mixture and mix well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pans.
Baking and Cooling
4. Bake for 11⁄2 hours or until a metal skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Pour the brandy over the cakes as they come out of the oven and leave to cool in the pan.