This year's Christmas cake recipe

I don't often bake a Christmas cake - I think this is only the second time. The cake seems to have cooked fine, and it's sitting in a tin waiting to be marzipanned and iced; only after putting the cake in the oven did I realise my first mistake, and only writing this I noticed the second, seriously major, problem. More of which later.

Perhaps being stranded in Massachusetts snow has made me hanker after the traditional trimmings of the season: cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies (all of which are slight variations on the same recipe!). Also it seems that fruitcakes are slightly frowned upon here, for some reason... let's see whether this one, if edible at all, has enough alcohol to keep the recipients merry.

So, the recipe. No, not this one, although it's not far different. If you're actually planning to make this you should have started a while ago - just after Thanksgiving, say (or in Britain, when you see the Xmas decorations in shop windows. Oh wait, maybe September is too early).

The original recipe I have is from Dublin's Evening Press: "Northside Shopping - Christmas '92", by Eileen Davis. No doubt it was handed down for generations by tradition, and it's been in our fading cuttings folder for years; now you can pass it around by URL. So much more convenient, right?

Some adjustments for American ingredients; I couldn't find sultanas (substituted dried cranberries), nor candied peel (substituted some mixed fruit plus a finely chopped lemon peel). If you know where I can find organic marzipan without paying a fortune, please let me know!

• 8oz raisins; 8oz sultanas; 8oz currents; 8oz peel; 2oz cherries
• half teaspoon mixed spice (I just used nutmeg, cinnamon)
• 2oz ground almonds; 2oz whole almonds
• whiskey

"Mix the fruit and pour in half a glass of whiskey", it says. Um. Some Glenmorangie, some brandy, some Cointreau -- I'm not sure how much altogether, but plenty. Throw in a cinnamon stick and some spice. Then I left this to steep in an airtight bowl for a week, stirring occasionally. By last weekend all the alcohol had been soaked up, and it smelled good. Then add the almonds and soak a little longer.

• 8oz sugar (white or brown)
• 8oz butter
• 6 eggs
• 12oz flour
• quarter teaspoon baking powder

Beat the sugar and butter together until creamy. Right. That seems so improbable as you start, but it really happens: eventually, after much beating, it really does get light and even fluffy. Do keep going; this is the important bit. I'd spent so long thinking about the alcohol content, the actual baking was done in too much of a hurry. Only skimp on the beating, as I belatedly remembered from the last attempt, if you don't mind a cake in which all the fruit sinks to the bottom and the cakeyness floats folornly on top.

Beat the eggs separately, then add to the creamed butter and sugar. Sieve the flour with the baking powder, and fold into the mixture. Finally stir in the mixed fruit (but not the cinnamon stick).

Line a 9 inch tin with greaseproof paper rising about 3 inches above the rim. (Some pictures will help!) I used two 7-inch round tins instead, which is about the same total volume, but are slightly more manageable and probably cook faster. If you want to make one 7-inch cake, just halve the quantities.

Gently fold the mixture into the tin. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon, making a slight dip in the centre so it'll have a level top after cooking.

Bake in a slow pre-heated oven at 140 degrees or Gas Mark 1 for at least five hours. Don't open the oven door at all for at least the first three hours, then cover the top of the cake with a double layer of parchment to keep it from burning. After four or five hours, check the cake with a skewer to see if it comes out dry. And it did - looking just fine. But wait: the recipe does say 140 degrees Celcius, where I cooked my cake at 150 Fahrenheit (which is probably, like, tepid bathwater temperature: Gas mark zero-and-a-bit). 140C=285F! Oh no!

Next: put the cake in a tin; it should improve with keeping. Or, in my case, I should put it back in the oven for a while. Finally, a week or so before Christmas, cover with marzipan then with royal icing. Yum!

(Update: I cooked it more, and seems OK -- too early to tell. Here some pictures: Here some pictures, for google-visitors!.)