Christmas Cake

Ingredients

• 0.5 pound homemade citron
• 1 pound raisins
• 1 pound currants
• 1 teacup firm preserve
• 4 ounces homemade candied peel
• 4 ounces preserved ginger
• 1 cup nutmeats
• 3 oranges
• 3 lemons
• 0.5 pint whiskey
• 1 gill rum
• 1 tumbler cordial
• tart jelly
• 1 pound butter
• 4 cups sugar
• 10 fresh eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon lemon essence
• vanilla or rose water
• sweet cream or boiling water or cordial

Instructions

1. Prepare the fruit first. Cut the citron small, wash and seed the raisins, pick, wash and dry the currants. Mince the firm preserve or leave preserved cherries whole. Shred the candied peel and preserved ginger fine. Chop the nutmeats into bits. Mix all fruit together, then pour the strained juice of oranges and lemons over them, along with the grated yellow peel. Add the whiskey, rum, and cordial. Let stand overnight in a warm place—the fruit should absorb most of the liquor. Optional: add a glass of tart jelly if desired, though the author prefers to rely on the preserves.
2. Cream the butter with the sifted sugar until well combined. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sifted flour and mix smooth. Fold in the fruit, first draining it from the liquor and lightly dredging it with hot sifted flour. Mix well, then add back the drained liquor along with the lemon essence and vanilla or rose water. If the batter is too stiff to stir easily, thin it with sweet cream, boiling water, or cordial.
3. Pour into pans that have been buttered and lined with five thicknesses of buttered paper. Set the pans in larger pans of hot water inside a warm (not brisk) oven. Shield the tops with double paper and let rise for half an hour. Increase the heat then, but baking must be slow—4 to 5 hours depending on pan size. Keep covered until the last half hour, then increase the heat noticeably. Test with straws; when they come out clean, remove the cakes. Set pans on racks, cover with a thick cloth, and let cool thoroughly. Frost the next day with plain or boiled frosting. For individual cakes, bake in small square molds set close together in a larger pan, cut into squares without waste, and frost each piece.