Launching my very own Christmas Cake recipe

Came over all domesticated this morning and made a bit of a culinary effort for Christmas. I found an old fruit cake recipe of my mother's and with a few changes, and not much preparation time, it worked out really well.

If anyone wants to try it here is the recipe:

Gently boil the following ingredients in a saucepan for 3-5 minutes:
100g brown sugar
100g butter
1 cup hot water
2 cups dried fruit (I used cranberries and raisins)
1/2 cup marmalade (or berry jam)
3 tsp spices (I used ginger, mixed and cinnamon)
1 tsp salt

Once the fruit mixture is cool, mix in the following ingredients:
1 whole apple (including skin and core) blended into a mush
1/2 cup Frangelico liqueur (or sherry, or port - anything sweet and with alcohol)
200g plain flour
100g almond meal
3tsp baking powder

Bake 50 minutes at 180deg C in a large pan that is lined with foil then baking paper.(You don't need to grease the pan or the paper, it lifts off easily)

I decorated mine with walnuts and red glace cherries stuck on with a little bit of icing - but I think Mum used to press whole almonds into her version.

Lizzie