(by Jane Clarke)
12 oz. flour
4 oz. ground almonds
1 t. mace
1 t. ground ginger
1 lb. butter, softened
1 lb. dark brown sugar
8 eggs
8 oz. candied citrus peel, chopped
1 lb. currants
1 lb. sultanas (golden raisins)
8 oz. glacé cherries
grated rind of 2 lemons
2 T. brandy
Preheat oven to 300 F. Grease your biggest ring tin, and line it with greased parchment paper.
Tie a double thickness of parchment paper around the outside of the tin. Sift the flour, ground almonds, and spices together. Set aside. Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. If the mixture curdles, add some of the flour, ground almond, and spices mixture. Lightly fold in remaining flour, ground almond, and spices mixture.
Fold in candied peel, currants, sultanas, glacé cherries, and grated lemon rind. Stir in brandy.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin, leveling the surface.
Bake for up to 4 hours, until a knitting needle comes out clean. You can cover the top with parchment paper 1 hour before the end of the cooking time to prevent burning.
Cool in the tin on a wire rack for 1 hour, and then turn the cake out of the tin.
The cake will keep for weeks in an airtight tin if you wrap it in parchment paper and tin foil.
(Read Hers, the story that accompanies this recipe.)