Scottish Dundee Cake

Ingredients

• 150 grams (5 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
• 150 grams (5 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 225 grams (8 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice, or pumpkin pie spice mix
• 3 large eggs
• 450 grams (1 pound) raisins
• 55 grams (2 ounces) citrus candied peel, coarsely chopped
• 55 grams glace cherries, halved, optional
• 1 tablespoon malt whiskey, or brandy
• 115 grams (4 ounces) whole blanched almonds

Instruction

1. Gather the ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 300 F/150 C/Gas 2. Line an 8-inch cake pan with greaseproof paper or baking parchment and grease lightly with a little butter.
3. Place the butter, sugar, and zest into a large bowl. Cream until light, smooth, and creamy using either a fork or electric hand whisk.
4. In another bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder and mixed spice.
5. Beat 1 egg into the creamed butter, then beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Repeat until all the eggs and flour are used up.
6. Add the raisins, citrus candied peel, and cherries (if using) to the mixture and stir well, but gently—you don’t want to flatten the cake batter too much—until all the fruits are incorporated into the mixture.
7. Stir in the whisky using a spoon or spatula.
8. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan and gently level the surface.
9. Cook in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, then arrange the blanched almonds into circles on the top and return the cake to the oven.
10. Bake for another hour or until the cake is a deep, golden brown.
11. Remove the cake from the oven and place onto a cooling rack, leaving the cake to cool in the pan. Once cooled, remove from the pan, slice, serve, and enjoy.