Mandy's Xmas Cake

Now, Xmas Cake. I hate that Xmas is used for Christmas, however it is a spelling variation that dates back centuries so I suppose I should support it. According to Wikipedia (and won't Greg Hunt be the first to say that my use of Wikipedia is a valid research method...),

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas . It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but it, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass, while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός which comes into English as "Christ". There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to  the 16th century.

Anyway. Mandy's Xmas Cake is big and dense and heavy and I possibly prepared it wrong however I followed the instructions, clear as mud as they were, as best I could. I'm not sure the whole cake needs to be stood overnight, or whether the fruit to go into the cake needs to be stood overnight. 

No photo until it's ready to be eaten of course, however here is one of my measuring cups instead. I received the cat measuring set for my birthday this year, and they've received much usage since then.

Mandy's Xmas Cake

225g. butter

4 eggs

2 cups plain flour

115g. currants

115g. sultanas

225g. raisins

2 tsp. mixed spice

225g. brown sugar

1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

115g. almonds

60g. glacé cherries

115g. mixed peel

115 g. chopped fig

150ml. sherry

Sift flour, spice, bicarbonate soda & salt.

Cream butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well

Stir remaining ingredients into the flour mixture, pour the sherry over the top , then cover and leave overnight.

Preheat oven to 140°C

Line a large (round or square) greased cake tin with two layers of paper and bake for 3 hours.

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For those of you who are not in Australia, please find here a selection of Measurement & Temperature Conversion Charts which should help with the accuracy of your own cooking.