Instructions: *Such as apricots roughly chopped; cherries quartered; shelled nuts roughly chopped; raisins sultanas

Grease and line a 200mm deep round cake tin.

Measure the prepared fruits and nuts butter or margarine bicarbonate ofsoda sugar and water into a large pan.

Bring up to the boil on the boiling plate and boil for 3 minutes.

Allow to cool then add the eggs flour ground ginger and stem ginger.

Mix to thoroughly combine then turn into the prepared cake tin and level the top.

Stand the cake tin in the large roasting tin on the grid rack in the lowest position and hang on the lowest set of runners in the roasting oven with the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners from the top.

Cook for 30 minutes.

If after 20 minutes it is getting a little brown at the sides give it a gentle half turn.

Transfer the now hot plain shelf to the centre of the simmering oven lift the cake carefully on top of it and cook for a further 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Put the cake on the grid shelf on the floor of the baking oven for about 1 1/4 hours.

Check after 30 minutes and if the top is getting too brown slide the cold plain shelf on the second set of runners from above to prevent it from browning more.

Cool in the tin before turning out on to a cooling rack.

This cake is really moist and packed with fruits including apricots and cherries. It is a good fruit cake even without the ginger Simply increase the other fruits to make up the weight if you have no ginger in the storecupboard. If you have an aga cake baker you could use it. Remember to preheat it on the floor of the roasting oven. It will take about 1 1/4 hours

Makes 1 cake

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