This is based on my mother's Christmas cake recipe, which she got from a friend's mother early in her marriage.   The original recipe was six times as large, and made three large cakes.   One of these would be started over Christmas; the others kept us in cake for most of the year.   Christmas cake was far and away my father's favourite kind of cake.   He loved to have a piece of it with coffee in the evening.
        When most of the Christmas baking was delegated to me, I continued sometimes to make my mother's recipe, even though I didn't like it much myself.   But I also made a couple of alternatives:   one that had just currants in it (Currant Dundee), and one that had a mixture of fruit chosen because they were kinds that I preferred (Apricot Fruit Cake).   Some years later, though, I devised yet a third variation on my mother's recipe.
        One Christmas I was a present short for my father; and it occurred to me that, since he was especially fond of heavy fruit cake, I might make one just for him (though, mind you, he was very generous about sharing it with other members of the family).   To this end, I specifically designed the blend of dried fruit to please his palate:   he loved figs and ginger, neither of which were in my mother's Christmas cake, so I made a point of putting them in the cake that I was inventing for him.   The recipe was a great success.   He loved it, and asked me to make it again, which I did a couple of times before his death.
        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

1/3 lb chopped Calymyrna figs
1/3 lb currants
2/3 lb bleached sultanas   (golden raisins)
1/4 lb citron peel
1/3 lb walnuts
1/3 lb almonds
1/8 lb crystallized ginger
1/8 lb pistachios
1 tbsp wine
1 tbsp flour

1/3 lb flour
1/2 flat tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch mace
pinch cloves
pinch allspice
pinch ginger

2 eggs
1/8 lb butter (unsalted)
1/6 lb golden sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
up to ¼ cup wine
up to ¼ cup orange juice

2 tbsp brandy

Directions

Preparing the Fruit
Chop the figs into quarters.   Break the walnuts into chunks.   Blanch the almonds, and dry them in a low oven.   Cut the pistachios in halves.   Dice the crystallized ginger.   Wash and pick over the raisins and currants to remove any bits of stalk.
      Put all the fruit into a large mixing bowl, and toss it with a tablespoonful of flour so the pieces don't stick together.   Pour a tablespoonful 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 two 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 cake.