Boiled Fruit Cake Phyllis Barnard

This is an amazingly fabulous recipe of my mother, Phyllis. When I moved to Los Angeles, I had to ask her often to send me recipes. This was in the 1980s and so she wrote out the recipes as you would make it - blow by blow. Just as you would make it when you are starting the process.
So the first recipe here is my edited version of this recipe. However, I would do my mother a disservice if I didn't put the original recipes.  The flavour of her personality comes through in the way she explains how to do the recipes. I have found that I do go back to her recipe from time to time to make sure that I have it right. She is quite thorough, so if you follow that part, your fruit cake will come out perfect. Reading and typing her recipe, I think it is a good idea to read the longer version. There are some good tips there.

EDITED VERSION

1 lb sugar
1 1/2 lb butter
1 lb seeded raisins
1 lb currants
1 lb sultanas
1 lb dried cherries, quartered
1/2 lb mixed candied peel
1 lb grace fruits
4 oz. dried, candied ginger
3/4 cup water
1 tsp baking soda (to be added later)

12 extra large eggs

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brandy

1 1/2 lb flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven at 500F.

1. Boil together the first 10 ingredients (not the baking soda) for 10 minutes. Take pot off stove and stir in 1 tsp baking soda. Cool.

2. Beat 12 eggs until frothy and mix into above.

3. Mix walnuts and brandy into above.

4. Sift the last 8 items together and then stir it into the above ingredients.

5. Line cake pans with brown paper. Pour the dough into pans. Turn down oven to 250F and put cake in. Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Take out and pour 1/2 cup brandy over top, and 1/2 cup over bottom of fruit cake. Cool and wrap in tin foil. Put in dark place to mature. 6 months to a year is good.

MY MOTHER'S ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS RECIPE

Cecilia, I am writing out the recipe for the fruit cake. I hope you will be able to buy the ingredients in Los Angeles. If not, let me know what you cannot get and I'll post it to you.

FIRST. You will need the card board box or lid of a fruit tray - like the single layers one buys in South Africa. That is essential for proper baking.
SECOND. I bake my cake in a copper bottomed straight up 5x litre capacity enamel pot which has been lined with a single layer of greased typing paper.
THIRD. Preheat your oven at 260C or 500F. Don't panic - there's a reason.
FOURTH. Your eggs must be room temperature so take them out of the fridge two days  before baking and leave open - not in the egg box.

Recipe for RICH FRUIT CAKE
3/4 lb flour
2 level teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 lb  butter - I use proper butter
1/2 lb sugar
6 eggs extra large
1/2 lb "seeded" raisins (I can buy raisins with the pips i.e. seeds removed - or you'll have the job of opening the raisins to take the peps out. Seedless raisins are NOT correct.
1/2 lb currants
1/2 lb sultanas
1/2 lb quartered cherries (optional)
1/4 lb mixed candied peel
1 cup chopped almonds or Walnuts (I always use walnuts because they are more flavoursome).

A.ONE teaspoon ground cinnamon
ONE teaspoon ground ginger
ONE teaspoon mixed spice
ONE pinch only of ground cloves.
1/2 lb chopped glace fruits and about 2 ounces chopped preserved ginger
ONE WINEGLASS BRANDY

Method
1. Sift the flour, B.P, salt and the spices at A (just above this) three times. HAVE ONE LEVEL TEASPOON BI-CARB SODA READY FOR LATER.
2. Put the sugar, butter and ALL the fruit specified in the recipe in a large saucepan, add ONE SMALL coffee cup i.e. 1/4 pt or 150 ml (depending on your type of measure) water and place on the stove at medium heat to allow butter and sugar to melt. Stir occasionally - BRING TO BOIL
3. From the moment the fruit mixture starts to boil, time for 12 minutes and then remove from stove. Add the teaspoon of Bicarb and stir well. It will foam. This is to give you a dark fruit cake. Cool down completely. I usually turn the electric fan on it to hurry the cooling process. Stir now and then to bring the cool air onto the hot fruit.
4. Beat the eggs till foamy - now fold into the cooled fruit mixture; then add the NUTS and half of the brandy and stir in the sifted flour and spices and mix well.
5. Pour batter into your prepared pot and put a square sheet of brown paper on top.
6. Put the cake into the cardboard lid and put it into the second shelf from bottom of the oven.
7. TURN THE HEAT DOWN AT ONCE TO 140 Cel or 250 FAHRENHEIT and set your  timer or alarm for 1 1/2 hours.
8. After 1 1/2 hours, open the oven door slightly and twitch out the brown paper. Close oven. Leave to bake for a further 1 1/2 hours. Total 3 hours.
9. Put a dry cloth on your wire cake cooler tray.
10. When the cake is ready remove from stove and pour the balance of the brandy carefully over the top.
11. Now turn the cake out, remove the paper round it and then I sprinkle a further 1/2 wineglass brandy over the base. When quite cold wrap in a tinfoil and keep in a cool place to mature. DONT put in the freezer because then the maturing process is arrested. The coolest place is usually in the bottom of a dark cupboard. You can put a marzipan icing round if desired. Sukses!