This is divine, and so easy.

Yes you can make your own Christmas Cake Kit with just a few minutes in the kitchen.

With this recipe you even soak the fruit so you really can say you made it all from scratch.

As a child I lived in a terraced house in Edmonton, North London. It was a diverse area - not so many Indians but otherwise a melting pot of cultures. Next door lived Aunty Ann from Granada, West Indies. She made the only Christmas Cake I have ever liked. It was warm, moist and rich with spices, not to mention a lot of booze! We liked it so much that she showed us how to make it. Over the years we lost touch and also lost the recipe. But I couldn't get the taste of that Christmas Cake out of my head. After much trial and error I have created a Christmas Cake I think Aunty Ann would be proud of. I've added the Virtuelicious twist by mincing the dried fruit for a squidgy texture and I've added a hint of chocolate for a modern touch. I reckon you'll like it 🙂

You need: 1 egg, 50g butter, 40ml port, 2 tbsp whisky/brandy/rum

Serves: 2 to 3

Instructions:

Simply blend and soak the fruit. Beat the butter and sugar then beat in the egg and stir in the chocolate, flour mixture and soaked fruit and bake.

More detailed instructions:  

1. Soak the dried fruit in the alcohol overnight. Make it more like a brownie by whizzing up the dried fruit once it's been soaked. In a rush? Warm the fruit in the alcohol for a few minutes and forego the soaking time.

2. Set the oven to 160c, 140c, fan, gas 3. 

3. Beat 50g butter with the sugar until light and creamy then gradually beat in one egg, adding a little flour if the mixture curdles. 

4. Mix in the flour, soaked fruit and chocolate, pour into a lined cake tin and bake for 30 mins, then reduce the oven temperature to 150c,130c fan, gas 2 for a further hour until a knife comes out clean. 

5. Allow to cool for 1 hour then turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Pimp it up:

• add any booze you have to hand
• add some orange zest
• add any dried fruit and nuts you have lying around
• get creative when decorating it

Ingredients & warnings:

dried fruit (vine fruit, prunes, dates, apricots, pineapple), dark muscovado sugar, plain flour, dark chocolate, baking powder, mixed spice, ground cinnamon.

Warnings: may contain mustard, celery, gluten, sulphites, sesame seeds, nuts, peanuts, soya, milk