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'tis the season for...fruitcake!

For the fruitcake:

8oz/250g butter (2 sticks, approximately)
8oz/250G sugar
1tsp vanilla
8oz/250g eggs
4oz/125g cake flour
4oz/125g bread flour
8oz/250g-1lb/500g mixed nuts and fruit of your choice

Clear glaze for the top:
4oz/125g water
4oz/125g sugar
8oz/250g corn syrup

To make the cake:

First, 24 hours before you wish to make the cake, rinse the fruit, cut up any large pieces, and soak the nuts and fruit in brandy/rum/sherry overnight. Be sure to drain before using. Heating up the leftover booze makes a good mulled cider.

Preheat the oven to 350F for this recipe, but if you want to make more than 1 loaf, double this recipe and heat the oven to 300F in stead.

Cream together the butter and the sugar, adding any spices if you wish. When the mix is fully incorporated, add the vanilla, mix again, then add the eggs one by one making sure to mix thoroughly and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Fold in about 80% of the flours, then toss the fruits and nuts with the rest of the flour, and fold that in. Pour into a tube pan, muffin tins, or a loaf pan (all sprayed with pan spray if they are not non-stick, of course), and bake for 1 1/2 hours until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. For the larger batches, they have to bake 3 to 4 hours.

For the clear glaze (it's best to make this while your fruitcake is cooling, since the glaze must be put on while still warm):

Combine ingredient together in a pan, mix together, then boil to dissolve the sugar.

After the fruitcake has cooled, brush with the glaze. You may add more nuts and fruit on top, but if you do, brush the glaze on it again.

It is actually pretty good! The fruitcakes that you find in the stores are made with lots of artificial ingredients, so they taste bad.