This Dark Christmas Fruit Cake is a fruitcake lovers dream! So this stir it up Sunday, this is the Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe you should be making!

Ingredients:
375 mL (1½ cups) candied pineapple
375 mL (1½ cups) candied cherries
500 mL (2 cups) currants
500 mL (2 cups) candied peel
375 mL (1½ cups) seedless raisins
250 mL (1 cup) brandy, rum, or bourbon

500 mL (2 cups) all-purpose flour
10 mL (2 tsp) baking powder
2 mL (½ tsp) baking soda
2 mL (½ tsp) salt
1 mL (¼ tsp) ground allspice
1 mL (¼ tsp) ground cloves
5 mL (1 tsp) ground cinnamon
2 mL (½ tsp) ground nutmeg
180g (175 mL / ¾ cup) butter, softened
170g (175 mL / ¾ cup) packed brown sugar
30 mL (2 Tbsp) molasses
60 mL (¼ cup) strawberry, or raspberry jam
5 eggs
200g (375 mL / 1½ cups) chopped walnut halves (pecans)

Method:
Chop up the pineapple and cherries.
In large bowl combine; pineapple, cherries, currants, raisins, mixed peel, and brandy; cover and leave on the counter for at least 24 hours, or up to a week; stirring occasionally.
Preheat oven to 150ºC (300°F).
Line base a 13" x 9" (3.5 L) metal cake pan with parchment paper.
In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
In a really big bowl bowl; cream together butter and sugar.
When butter / sugar is light and fluffy beat in molasses and jam.
Then beat in eggs, 1 at a time.
Stir in flour mixture just until incorporated.
Add fruit mixture and walnuts; stir to combine.
Transfer to the prepared pan, smoothing top.
Bake cake for 1:45 to 2 hours, until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean but a little sticky.
You may need to lay a piece of tinfoil over top during baking if it browns too much.
Let cool in pan on rack.
Soak a double-thickness of cheesecloth in more brandy; wrap the cake in the cheesecloth and then wrap in plastic wrap..
Refrigerate for as long as you can before eating.
This will keep in the fridge / freezer almost indefinitely if wrapped carefully.

**Tips:
Switch up the dried and candied fruit for anything you'd like to have in the cake - there is no 'right or wrong' way.
Switch up the alcohol of your choice for any that you prefer - or use apple / grape juice if you wish.
Fancy molasses gives a lighter flavour, but sometimes we'll use cooking or blackstrap. Sorghum or honey would also work.

Music by Dyalla Swain
https://soundcloud.com/dyallas

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