This is my mother's Christmas cake recipe, which she got from a friend's mother early in her marriage.   The original recipe was three times as large.  A small portion of the dried fruit was removed, and used to make a Christmas pudding; and the rest was made into three cakes.   One of these was started over Christmas; the others kept us in cake for most of the year.   This was far and away my father's favourite kind of cake.   He loved to have a piece of it with coffee in the evening.
        Many English Christmas cake recipes call for the top and sides of the cake to be covered first in marzipan and then in royal icing, which is then decorated with piping.   However, this recipe is for a plainer cake—plain, of course, being a relative term.
        Since I am not fond of a number of the ingredients in this cake, I only make it occasionally for the rest of the family.   Instead, I have devised a couple of alternative heavy fruit cakes (Currant Dundee and Apricot Fruit Cake) based on this recipe but having fruit combinations that appeal more to me personally.   Also, as a Christmas present for my father one year, I devised a third variation (Fig Fruit Cake) specifically designed to please his palate.
        It is important to remember just how heavy a cake this is—absolutely packed with dried fruit, and very nourishing.   So it is served in long narrow fingers, similar to the way that a wedding cake is served.

Ingredients

Directions

Preparing the Fruit
Cut the cherries in half.   Stone the dates (if they need it), and cut them into chunks.   Cut the pineapple into sections similar in size to diced pineapple pieces.   Break the walnuts into chunks.   Blanch the almonds, and dry them in a low oven.   Wash and pick over the raisins, sultanas, and currants to remove any bits of stalk; and seed the muscat raisins (if they need it).
      Put all the fruit into a large mixing bowl, and toss it with two tablespoons of flour so the pieces don't stick together.   Pour a couple of tablespoonsful of wine over the top, and toss again.   Leave overnight.

Making the Cake Batter

Mixing in the Fruit
Stir in the fruit by hand.   Add a cup or two at a time, stirring in with a spurtle or wooden spoon.   As the batter becomes full of fruit, this will become increasingly difficult; but it is possible.   Eventually, what you have will look like a big bowlful of fruit covered stickily with batter.

Preparing the Cake Pan
This type of cake is baked in a deep round cake pan with a removable base (not a regular square cake tin).   Alternatively, use a large loaf pan.
        Take a large brown paper bag (or plain brown paper), and cut two pieces.   First, you need a strip long enough to go round the inside sides of the pan with at least two inches to spare for overlap.   This should be at least an inch or two higher than the cake tin.   Second, you need a round piece that is at least two inches wider than the base of the cake tin.
        Lay the brown paper on the kitchen counter, and pour a little cooking oil on it.   Brush or rub the oil over the paper until all the paper is greased.   Be sure to oil both sides of the paper.   I generally use my fingers:   it's a lot like fingerpainting, and rather fun.   (Wash your hands after.)
        Put the round piece in the cake pan, pushing it down so that it covers the base and comes a little way up the sides all round.   Then put the long strip in, winding it round the cake pan inside the sides of the round piece, so there is a good overlap.

Filling the Cake Tin
Pack the batter into the cake pan.   Put a few spoonsful in the bottom first, pressing it into the sides of the pan, being sure that it holds the greased brown paper firmly in place. Then add the rest of the batter, firming it down lightly as you go so there are no gaps.
        When all the batter is in the pan, smooth the top over with a wet knife.   Scrape any spare batter from the mixing bowl, and use it to cover exposed fruit, especially any larger pieces.

Baking
Bake at 300°F for at least three hours, until a cake tester comes out clean.  Turn off the oven, and let the cake cool in the oven overnight.

Wrapping the Cake
Gently remove the greased paper from the cake but do not throw it away.   Brush the cake all over with brandy.
        Replace the greased paper around the cake.   Cut two pieces of waxed paper, and wrap the cake in it, first one way and then the other, so there are no gaps.   Then cut a large piece of aluminum foil, and wrap the cake again, pressing the foil around the cake so that the waxed paper lies flat underneath.   If the foil is not wide enough to cover the cake completely, use a second piece.

Storage
Store the cake for at least one month before cutting.   However, it can be made as much as a year ahead of time, and just gets better with age.   If you make it far in advance, check it once or twice during the year, each time brushing it over again with brandy.
        Even a cut cake will store indefinitely, if well wrapped.   Should it dry out, simply put it in a large cake tin with a piece of wet paper towel:   the damp will be absorbed by the cake.   Alternatively, you can steam it in a pressure cooker; but this will somewhat alter the texture, making it more like a Christmas pudding.

Cutting the Cake
Slice across the cake to produce a large slice no more than half an inch thick.   This is then cut into long narrow fingers about one to one and a half inches across.

Makes one large cake.