This was definitely the star of last week’s fancy meal with my fellow reenactors. It’s so delicious and boozy! I used “chia eggs” because I had several people who either were vegan or couldn’t do eggs, and so I skipped the creaming part mentioned below. Even with the fake eggs, it turned out moist and amazing.
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cups currants
- 1/3 cup chopped candied orange peel
- 1/3 cup chopped candied lemon peel
- 1/3 cup chopped candied citron
- 3/4 cup Madeira, divided
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoons ground mace
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (or margarine)
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- powdered sugar for top of cake
Combine the currants, orange and lemon peels, and citron in a large bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the Madeira, and stir to combine. Cover and set aside for at least 3 hours, or as long as overnight. Stir the remainder of the Madeira together with the brandy, cover, and set aside.
When ready to bake the cake, preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or a 12-inch springform pan (line the springform with parchment paper before greasing and flouring).
Drain the fruits in a large strainer set over a bowl, stirring occasionally to extract as much of the Madeira as possible. Add the strained Madeira to the set-aside Madeira and brandy. Combine 1/4 cup of the flour with the fruit, and mix well. Add the almonds, and set aside. Sift the remaining flour with the nutmeg and mace.
In a bowl, cream the butter until it is light. Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating for several minutes after adding. Continue to beat for several minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Alternately add the spiced flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and the Madeira and brandy, beating until smooth.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs to form stiff peaks. By hand, gently fold them into the batter, combining lightly until well blended. By hand, fold in the fruit in thirds, mixing until well combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 1-1/2 hours, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the cake on a wire rack to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Turn it out of the pan to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes:
To use “chia eggs” simply replace each egg with 1 tbsp chia seeds and 3 tbsp of water whisked together. Let this “chia egg” sit for 5 minutes before using it in any baking recipe where you don’t need the eggs to be fluffy. Because this was a heavy cake, the lightness wasn’t really necessary.