Buttered rum Christmas cake

Mix dried fruit, nuts, cranberries and maple syrup on Stir-up Sunday for this crowd-pleasing Christmas cake that improves as it keeps

225g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

225g light muscovado sugar 4 large eggs, beaten

225g plain flour

2tsp ground mixed spice

Zest of 1 small orange

85g pecans or walnuts, toasted, then roughly chopped

FOR THE FRUIT

150ml cloudy apple juice

50g unsalted butter

2tbsp maple syrup

5tbsp dark rum

800g mixed dried fruit (the kind that includes mixed peel) 175g dried cranberries

TO FEED THE CAKE (EACH TIME)

2tbsp dark rum 1tbsp maple syrup 1

Start with the fruit. Pour the apple juice into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Add the butter, let it melt, then take off the heat and add the syrup and rum. Put the mixed fruit and cranberries into a large bowl, pour over the hot rum mix, then cover tightly with cling film and leave overnight.

2

The next day, heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.

Grease and double-line a 20cm round, deep cake tin with non-stick baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale, then gradually beat in the eggs until light and fluffy. If the mix starts to split or look lumpy, add 1tbsp of the flour and keep beating. Sift in the flour, spices and 1/4 tsp salt, and fold in using a large spoon. Fold in the orange zest, nuts, soaked fruit and soaking liquid.

3

Spoon the batter into the tin, level the top, then make a slight dimple in the middle using the back of the spoon. Bake for one hour 30 mins, then reduce oven to 140C/120C fan/ gas 1 and bake for a further hour 45 mins or until it has risen, is a dark golden colour and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Put the tin on a cooling rack and leave until warm.

4

To feed the cake the first time, use a cocktail stick to poke all over the top of the warm cake. Stir together the rum and maple syrup, then slowly spoon over the cake. Cool completely, then remove the baking parchment, wrap loosely in clean baking parchment and store in an airtight tin. Feed the cake every week to 10 days until you decorate it.

5

To cover, ice and decorate your cake, go to bbcgoodfood.com and search for Midwinter candle cake, Sparkly bauble cake or Sparkling snowfetti cake.