Alcoholic Boiled Fruit Cake recipe

This week's recipe has a very round-about history.  It all started when my father, who was a creative, but not very hygienic, good or interested cook, but a great gourmand, saw a box of books falling out of a delivery truck. Opening the box, he discovered it contained numerous copies of Nigel Slattery's "Simple Flavours".  Instead of keeping them all and distributing them amongst family and friends as a lot of people would, he revealed his very Presbyterian upbringing (usually extremely hidden) by ringing the publishing company up.  They sent someone round to collect the books and gratefully gave him one copy in thanks.  He gave me the book, hoping I would cook him something from it.  I discovered Michelle Day's Fruit Cake recipe, which he enjoyed very much.  Later, someone told me I actually knew her, and that her kids went to the same school as my kids, but as I never put names and faces together, I don't know if this is true.  Anyway, I gradually began to play with the recipe and give it a Jamaican slant by adding lots of alcohol.  (  I always have a bottle of dried mixed fruit in the pantry, which can contain anything from sultanas to cranberries, raisins, currants, orange peel, cherries, and chopped prunes.  They soak in the dregs of bottles of alcohol, which does not have to be expensive, by the way, plonk will do - port, sherry, tonic wine, whisky, brandy: all unite in my bottle of fruit.  This mix goes into most of my fruit cakes, and occasionally into desserts). Then, a close friend had to change to a gluten free diet, and I adapted it again.  This is the latest version.

Alcoholic Boiled Fruit Cake.

Ingredients:

5 cups of  soaked, dry fruit
300 g butter
2 cups raw sugar
2 tspn bicarbonate soda
2 cups alcohol
2 teaspoons nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 dash cloves
4 well beaten eggs
2 cups plain flour - wholemeal or plain, gluten free or not.

Method:

Put fruit, butter, alcohol, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and alcohol into a pot and boil until sugar and butter have dissolved.  Watch it!  The bicarbonate of  soda can fizz out of the pot if you don't stir and turn down the heat!  Cool for about an hour.

Now stir in spices and eggs.  Fold in flour gradually.  I rarely remember to do this and often get flour lumps as a result, which do not taste or look nice.  (Warning:  the mixture can look very runny.  Don't worry).

Pour into a greased tin which has been lined with baking paper.  Bake at 170 degrees for an hour, or until cooked through.


It lasts well, is yummy, moist and moreish, and easy!  Sometimes I make tiny little ones as Christmas cakes for gifts.  I like having one in the house when I am expecting visitors. Sometimes, I ice them.  When someone I know is not partial to traditional fruit cakes, I just use sultanas and somehow, the alcohol convinces them it is not a fruit cake.  Try it!

I rarely get colds but I got a horrible one, so cooking and eating out was erratic.

These are some of the home made meals we had:

 Fried bream with rice, coconut and carrot salad and a wonderful sweet coriander salsa.

Vegetable soup:

Baked capsicums stuffed with rice and tuna

 

 

 

Greek style lamb on Turkish bread, with orange and Pomegranate hommus and salad

 

 

We also taste-tested this amazing melon, called "Piel de Sapo", which is beautifully sweet and seems to be a green version of the yellow one we often ate  in Spain.

Bob continued experimenting with poached eggs.  He has decided that avoiding egg holders and swirling vinegared boiling water gives the best effect.

We have had a few meals out though.

Coco's Café in Yarragon, Victoria was very good.  A pea and ham soup with bread,

then a Florentine biscuit

 


and a Bread and Butter Pudding went down very well on a cold day.

 

In Eagle Junction, Brisbane, Bob had his favourite eggs Florentine

 

while I had a very nice garden salad and one of their fantastic juices  beetroot and ginger.  How healthy I am getting!