The emergency Christmas Cake.

This cake can even be made the day before it is needed and it will taste great!  It originally comes from the Australian Women's Weekly, but I have made a few changes to it.  If you don't have access to glace fruit at short notice, just substitute extra dried fruit.  If you have time you can 'seed' the cake with Grand Marnier ever few days.

Rating : Moderate to easy

If you have 2 days
Place in a bowl, and leave overnight:

1-1/4 kilos of dried mixed fruit
60g glace pineapple
60 g glace apricots
125g glace cherries
juice and rind of 1 large orange, and one small lemon
1/2 cup Grand Marnier (you can use brandy)
1 green apple grated (optional)

If you only have 1 day - place all of the above in a large saucepan, heat gently to plump the fruit and leave to cool before using.

Step 2
Using an electric mixer, mix 250g butter and 1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed) until light and fluffy, add 4 eggs, one at a time.  Mix well between each egg.

Add this mixture to the fruit and mix well.  If you like nuts in your fruitcake, now is the time to add around a cup full of almonds or pecans.

Sift in 1-1/2 cups of plain flour, 1/4 cup of self raising flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons of mixed spice.  Mix in well to the mixture.

Place in a greased and papered tin, and cook for around 3 hours at 150 degrees centigrade.

When it comes out of the oven, and is still hot, baste with 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier.  Cool in the tin and when cold, cover with tin foil lined with baking paper and keep in the fridge.  (Because this cake has so much butter it needs to be in the fridge in Australian conditions). 

Enjoy!