xmas fruitcake: step one

haven't had fruitcake at xmas since mum died, it's one of the many things i miss a lot. so this year, i'm making my own. i started a couple of months back making candied peel, and then glace cherries. now, it's time to get baking so it has time to "ripen" before the holiday season.

i looked at a lot of recipes, and had a real time deciding which to choose. so many had different twists, different things to recommend them! i've finally settled on delia smith's dundee cake. with a few twists.

first off, i switched out currants for dried apricots (one of the ingredients i found tempting in some other recipes). i also upped the glace cherries content, since i spent an entire bloody week making them. i decided to steep in sherry rather than whiskey as i like sherry for dessert-y things (why yes, i am a middle-aged lady, nothing wrong with that) and also it's slightly less alcoholic and the kiddo is going to end up eating some of this.

and finally, when you dream, dream big: i'm making a double batch, so we'll have one for our tree-trimming party at the beginning of december, and one for christmas eve carolling.