Cake 25, The Cake I Only Kinda Made (Fruit)

Cake Team Effort, meaning somebody else made most of it.

Easy-mix Fruit and Rum Cake

another Alison Holst classic from my mother's collection

1 kg small dark raisins (I used a combination of raisins, currants, cranberries, prunes and glace cherries)

1/2 cup liquid (cranberry juice for me, no brandy at hand)

200g butter

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup golden syrup

1/2 cup milk

2 large eggs

Soak the fruit in the liquid for 24-48 hours, until all the liquid has been soaked up. Alison recommends putting the liquid and fruit into a snaplock bag so none of the alcoholic goodness can evaporate. 

Rub the butter into the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt using a food processor or your digits. 

Warm syrup and milk just enough to combine them, beat in the eggs, then mix this liquid into the fruit and dry mixture. Pour into a lined 20cm square tin.

Decorate the top with almonds and cherries etc. 

Bake at 150C for 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 hours, until a skewer comes out clean. 

My camera batteries died right after taking the first photo. Bonus: evidence of how the cockroach was eventually killed.