Chocolate and port Christmas cake

375 g raisins

light

375 g raisins

dark

340 g prunes

pitted

225 ml port wine

Put the raisins in a large bowl, cut up the prunes and add to the bowl. Add the port and mix well. Leave to stand for two hours, stirring occasionally.

(Pre-)heat cooking space to 140 °C with Hot air humid

250 g butter

1 tbsp vanilla essence

225 g cane sugar

4 eggs

Beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and beat until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the creamed mixture to the fruit and combine well.

1 orange

zest and juice

75 g treacle

450 g flour

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp mixed spice

1 tbsp nutmeg

1 tbsp cinnamon

200 g chocolate

dark

250 g glacé cherries

200 g walnuts

Zest and juice the orange. Chop the walnuts. Break the chocolate into pieces, place in a bowl and melt over a bain-marie.

Add the juice, zest and treacle to the fruit mixture and stir to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the bowl. Stir in the melted chocolate, glacé cherries and walnuts until just combined.

Cover the bottom of the springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter. Turn the mixture into the tin and smooth the surface of the cake. Place the tin on the wire shelf in the preheated cooking space. Bake.

Put the pastry in

Hot air humid 140 °C for 3 Hrs

50 ml port wine

Remove the cake from the cooking space, pour over extra port wine. Leave the cake in the tin and wrap in a clean kitchen towel for 24 hours.

Gently turn the cake out of the tin.