Great Aunt Mabel's Fruit Cake

The Story

Nobody knows exactly when Mabel first made this cake. The original recipe card is so stained and folded that some of the measurements are guesswork and muscle memory. What we do know is that Great Aunt Mabel was the kind of woman who kept a 'good' brandy and a 'cooking' brandy, and she was fiercely secretive about which one went into the cake. (It was the good one. Always the good one.)

The cake gets fed — not topped, not drizzled, but fed — with brandy every Sunday for three months before Christmas. Nanna June inherited the recipe and the ritual, and she passed it to Mum with strict instructions: 'Don't you dare use cheap brandy. She'll know. I don't know how, but she'll know.'

The recipe card lives in a plastic sleeve now, handled like the sacred document it is.

Ingredients

500g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, currants, raisins)

150g glacé cherries, halved

100g mixed peel

200ml good brandy (plus extra for feeding — you'll need the bottle)

250g butter, softened

250g dark brown sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon treacle

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

300g plain flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated if Mabel is watching)

100g blanched almonds, roughly chopped

Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

Method

Step 1
The night before: Combine the dried fruit, cherries, and mixed peel in a large bowl. Pour over 100ml of the brandy. Cover with a tea towel and leave overnight. (Mabel left it for three days, but who has that kind of patience?)
Step 2
Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Line a deep 20cm round cake tin with two layers of baking paper, extending 5cm above the rim. Wrap the outside of the tin with newspaper secured with string. This protects the edges from burning during the long bake.
Step 3
Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy — a good five minutes. Mabel did this by hand. You may use a mixer and feel no shame.
Step 4
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the treacle and vanilla.
Step 5
Sift flour and spices together. Fold into the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the remaining 100ml brandy.
Step 6
Fold in the soaked fruit (with any liquid), almonds, and citrus zest. The batter should be thick and heavy — "like stirring concrete" per Nanna.
Step 7
Spoon into the prepared tin. Smooth the top and make a slight dip in the centre (it will dome as it rises).
Step 8
Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours. Test with a skewer — it should come out clean but slightly sticky. The top should be dark and firm.
Step 9
Cool completely in the tin. Do not rush this.
Step 10
Once cool, turn out and wrap tightly in a double layer of cheesecloth soaked in brandy. Then wrap in foil.
Step 11
Every Sunday for the next three months, unwrap, drizzle with 1–2 tablespoons of brandy, rewrap. This is the feeding. It is sacred. It is non-negotiable.
Step 12
On Christmas Day, unwrap and serve at room temperature. Accept compliments graciously. Deflect credit to Mabel.

"Use the good brandy. She can tell the difference and she's been gone thirty years." — Nanna June

"The feeding schedule is not optional. I don't care if you're on holiday." — Mum

"This cake has survived two world wars and one kitchen renovation. Treat it accordingly." — Family lore

Great Aunt Mabel's Fruit Cake

The Story

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