Superior Loaf Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cup butter
• 3 cup sugar
• 2 cup milk
• 7 cup flour, sifted
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup seeded raisins
• 1 cup currants, washed and dried
• 1 cup citron, sliced
• 1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
• 1 tsp mace
• 1 tsp soda
• 1 cup home-made yeast
• 1 wine glass wine or brandy

Method

Cream 225g butter with 675g caster sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy — this takes about five minutes by hand, three by machine. You're incorporating air into the fat, which traps bubbles during rising and gives the crumb its open structure. Warm 450ml milk gently with the remaining 225g butter until the butter dissolves; don't boil it. Sift 1.75kg flour and fold it into the creamed butter and sugar in three batches, alternating with the warm milk. This prevents toughness — gluten develops less when flour contacts fat first.

Stir in 240ml home-made fermentation|yeast (a living starter, not commercial yeast). The culture will convert sugars to carbon dioxide and alcohol, flavouring the crumb and creating the characteristic tight, even crumb of a yeast cake. Cover loosely and let this sponge rise for two to four hours until visibly aerated and risen by about a third. The dough should smell distinctly sour and vinous.

When the sponge is ready, fold in the remaining ingredients: 4 whole eggs (not separated — the common direction to beat whites and yolks apart is unnecessary here and wastes effort), 280g seeded raisins, 280g dried currants, 280g sliced citron, 8g ground cinnamon, 2g mace, and 120ml wine or brandy. The fruit|dried fruit swells slightly as it absorbs moisture from the batter and the alcohol — this is preferable to pre-soaking. Fold everything together gently but thoroughly; any unmixed flour will bake into hard streaks.

Divide the batter between two well-buttered loaf tins or a single large round cake tin, filling each no more than three-quarters full. Let rise again until the batter domes slightly above the rim — roughly two hours, but the visual cue matters more than the clock. The surface should look rounded and taut, not sunken.

Bake at 160°C for two and a half to three hours. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it, and the surface is deep mahogany-brown. A slower oven prevents the edges from hardening before the centre sets. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. This cake improves over three to four days as the alcohol mellows and the crumb firms slightly.