Ingredients
- 250 g stoned prunes, chopped
- 250 g raisins
- 100 g mixed peel
- 150 ml brandy, rum or whisky
- 275 g unsalted butter, softened
- 350 g muscovado sugar (preferably dark)
- 3 free-range eggs
- 200 g self-raising flour
- 150 g plain flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp mace
- 100 ml stout
- 250 g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids, smashed up a bit
- 150 g walnuts, roughly chopped
How to Make It
- Soak the fruit in a bowl with 100 ml of the brandy for 24 hours before you start cooking, covering the bowl tightly with clingfilm.
- Preheat the oven to 170 °C/fan 150 °C/gas 3 and line the base of a greased 26 cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one in thoroughly before adding the next. Sift the flours and spices and add to the mixture gradually until everything is well combined.
- Fold in the soaked fruit and the stout, followed by the chocolate and walnuts, and mix thoroughly. Tip into the tin and bake for 2½ hours, covering loosely with foil for the last hour or so if the top is browning too much. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out dry with a few crumbs clinging to the tip. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out, peeling off the paper and pricking with a skewer in a few places, then pouring the remaining brandy over.