Festive recipe: Steamed Christmas Cake

Steamed Christmas Cake
Makes one cake, serves 8 - 10

Ingredients
125 g dried cranberries
150 g chopped dried figs
75 g mixed citrus peel
60 ml Brandy
125 g (1/2 cup) soft butter
60 g (6 Tbls) Canderel Crunch with Sucralose
2 XL eggs
Rind of one lemon
1 T fresh lemon juice
125 g (1 cup) fresh bread crumbs
75 g self raising flour
3 t mixed spice powder
50 g diced almonds
¼ cup apricot jam to glaze
Vanilla ice cream or custard to serve.

How to make it
Combine the cranberries, figs, citrus peel and Brandy, marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Chop the marinated fruit (with the brandy sauce) into tiny pieces.
Beat together the butter and Canderel Crunch until light and fluffy.
Before adding the eggs, add 1 teaspoon of the self raising flour to the butter and sugar mixture and beat well to avoid curdling.
Add one egg at a time, beating well.
In a large bowl, combine the butter mixture, marinated fruit, lemon rind, lemon juice, bread crumbs, flour, mixed spice and almonds. Mix well.
Trace the outline and inside circle of a bunt cake tin onto wax paper. Cut out the rounds.
Grease the bunt tin very well and scoop in the cake mix. Gently flattening the mixture.
Cover the cake mix with the wax paper and flatten it down onto the cake surface.
Cover the entire tin with extra strong tinfoil, tucking overlapping foil underneath. Tie baking string around the lip of the tin to secure the foil and create a kind of steam oven.
Place the bunt tin in a large pot. Add water to the pot until it reaches half way up the cake tin.
Bring to the boil and gently simmer for 2 hours, checking every half hour that there is still enough water, and if not, add boiling water.
After two hours carefully remove the cake from the boiling water and partially remove the foil to insert a skewer to check if the cake is ready. If it is cooked through, replace the foil cover and return the cake to the water (turning off the heat) and allow to cool in the water bath for a few hours.
Once cooled, store it in your refrigerator (in the cake tin) for up to 2 months.
When you are ready to serve, steam the cake in the same manner as above for half an hour to heat through.
Melt the apricot jam in the microwave for a few seconds and brush over the hot cake.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.