weekend (no) baking \\ xmas fruit cake

i was planning to make some shortbread cookies with boo this weekend. i took the butter out from the fridge yesterday morning and it softened in no time. with the temperature in the high thirties, we had the ac on most of the day so it seemed like a silly idea to have the oven on too. so the butter went back into the fridge. doesn't look like we'll have any shortbread cookies for Xmas this year. sorry boo. 

so instead of baking, i decided to get on with icing this fruit cake i made weeks ago. it will be gifted as a xmas present to Rosie because i know how much she loves xmas fruit cake. the recipe was given to me by Myfanwy years ago and i used to make it and bring it back to Malaysia for dad. he used to tell me if i was to make it and sell it in Malaysia, i'd make a lost with the amount of dried fruit i put into that cake. the original recipe has very simple ingredients but i've made some slight changes making the list of ingredients even shorter. 

cake decorating has become an annual affair for me. boo's birthday is probably the only time of the year where i get to "play" with fondant. whilst i'm getting better at decorating birthday cakes, i haven't decorated a xmas cake since i went to the sugar magic cake decorating class at the community college eight years ago. i have forgotten how much harder and trickier it is to cover a cake with white icing. because with white icing, any flaws become very visible. due to time constraints, i only managed a simple design like this one. i hope Rosie doesn't mind.   

ingredients \\

1kg mixed fruits

250g butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Brandy or Sherry

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon treacle

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cup plain flour

1/3 cup self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

method \\

line a deep 23 cm round or 20cm square cake tin with 3 thickness of grease proof paper

combine fruit, butter, sugar, Brandy or Sherry and water in a pan. stir over heat until butter has melted and sugar dissolved. bring to the boil. reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. remove from heat to cool to room temperature. 

once the fruit mixture is cooled, stir in the treacle and eggs, followed by the dry ingredients. stir to mix well and pour mixture into the prepared tin. 

baked in a low oven - 150 degrees for 2 and 2 1/2 hours

once the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of Sherry over the top and cover the cake with a few layers of foil. leave the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin.