FRUITCAKE

Recipe:

• 50g light soft brown sugar
• 125g unsalted butter
• 100g golden syrup (plus a spoonful to pour over top)
• 2 large eggs
• 500g mixed fruit (I used Tesco Luxury Mix or somesuch thing)
• 200g strong white flour (I was all but out of white so substituted Spelt flour)
• 1 level teaspoon baking powder
• 2 level teaspoons mixed spice (I used allspice)
• 75g ground almonds
• 50ml milk
• 50ml whisky (we only had a Single Malt in the house...)

Holy Moly this is a nice cake!
Again taken from the same Guardian Supplement, quite easy to make.

• Beat the butter, sugar and syrup until light and fluffy (that didn't really happen)
• Whisk in the eggs, one at a time until combined.
• Stir in the fruit.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, spice and ground almonds and add to the mixture along with the milk and whisky.
• Place in a baking tin and cover tightly with foil, baking at 180 (Gas Mark 4) for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 45 minutes.
• After cooling, drill a few holes, mix together a tablespoon of syrup with a tablespoon of whisky and drizzle over the cake.
  

The recipe called for a 2lb loaf tin, which I don't have, so I opted for a round cake tin, lined with baking parchment. The cake did not rise much, leading me to think I should have used a smaller tin, or perhaps increased the dosage of baking powder slightly to compensate for the weight of the spelt flour.
Despite being a bit on the thin side, the texture is excellent, the taste is beautiful and the aroma is simply awesome!
We have a family tradition of eating Christmas Cake with a slice of cheese, and this cake is completely moved to another dimension when eaten with a slice of Collier's Cheddar. Next time I make one I shall follow another family tradition of studding the top of the cake with whole almonds and glazing with egg and milk.