Boiled Fruit Cake

As time goes by, my Christmas baking leisure, is going with it!  Time is my most rare commodity so I try to find short cuts and cheats to overcome this annoying problem.  Boiling process saved me from long hours waiting for dried fruit to steep in alcohol.  Adding butter while the mixture is still warm saved me from creaming it with sugar and I used the same pan!.  Texture came out just as good and I cannot tell you if it keeps long or not as it has already disappeared! I gave this cake the dundee finish of almond topping for that little bit of crunch.

500g dried mixed fruit

250g glaced cherries

100g chopped dried prunes

250g dark muscovado sugar

1/2tsp ground cinnamon

1/4tsp ground cloves

1/4tsp ground allspice

Juice and rind of 1 clementine

Juice and rind of 1 orange

1 cup whiskey

225g butter

300g self raising flour

3 eggs

2tbsp honey

2tbsp cocoa powder

200g almonds

Add mixed fruit, cherries, prunes, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, alspice, rind and juice of clementine and orange and whiskey to a medium pan.  Bring to a boil and simmer for just 5 minutes stirring so that sugar dissolves.  Turn off heat and cover with lid till mixture cools down to medium warm.

Pre heat oven to 165c. Line a 10inch cake tin with baking paper. 

Chop butter into small cubes and add to fruit mixture and stir till it melts into the mixture.  Add eggs, flour, cocoa and honey and stir till all is incorporated into the fruit mixture and form a nice cake mix. Do not overmix.

Pour mixture in prepared baking tin, arrange almonds on top and bake for approximately 1 hour.  Test with skewer in the centre, and when this comes out clean remove from oven and let it cool in the tin.