Christmas Cakes

I've started making Christmas Cakes today as they need a good 2 months to mature. It involves soaking the fruit in brandy for 24 - 72 hours! It's from my Mitch Turner Spectacular Cakes book and it tastes wonderful, really flavourful and moist. I love a slice of fruit cake with a big wedge of mature cheddar on top mmmmm! I'm planning on making up some hampers filled with homemade treats such as Christmas cake, nougat, cookies, vanilla sugar, chutneys, jams etc.
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Here is the first stage of making the Christmas cake:
Source: Mich Turner
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To make a 6" round / square, this is what you'll need:
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Ingredients:
Seedless currants – 125g / 4 ½ oz
Sultanas – 100g / 3 ½ oz
Californian Raisins - – 100g / 3 ½ oz
Whole pitted pruned, chopped – 40g / 1 ½ oz
Whole dried apricots, chopped - 40g / 1 ½ oz
Whole pitted dates, chopped - 40g / 1 ½ oz
Natural colour glacé cherries – 50g / 2 oz
Brandy 40% alcohol – 75 ml / 2 ½ fl oz
Fresh Lemon (Juice and zest) – 1
Fresh Orange (Juice and zest) – 1
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Put all the chopped fruit into a bowl. Pour over the brandy, lemon juice, orange juice and the peels. Mix well, cover with cling film and leave on the bench for 24 – 72 hours.
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I’ll post the rest of the ingredients and the recipe as and when I make it! I’m going to leave my fruit to soak for at least 48 hours...
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
* I couldn't get any prunes, so I added in a few extra chopped cherries and dates to make up the missing 40g.