Vodka and cake?

Late last year, someone gave me this recipe and I just had to try it........  I mean, Christmas pudding?  vodka? what's not to like?


Christmas Pudding Vodka


300g mixed dried fruit
75g caster sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp ground mixed spice
6 cloves
1/2 whole nutmeg
zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
750 ml vodka


I used a Rumtopf to make this drink in but you can do it in a large jar or bottle.


Mix everything together and keep in a cool dark place, shaking daily to help dissolve the sugar.  The longer you keep it the better but at least a couple of months is good.


Strain the vodka from the fruit and put it into a bottle. (I used the original vodka bottle).  You might like to strain it through a very fine cloth to get rid of the grains of spice.


Now at the end of all this, you are left with a lot of very boozy fruit.  You could have it over some ice cream, or do as I did.


I picked out the cloves, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg and then used the "Orange Tea Bread" recipe (February 3rd 2012) as a base for a cake.


Boozy Cake


The fruit left from the christmas pudding vodka minus whole spices.
1/2 pt milk
450g self raising flour


Mix together and place in a greased and lined (2lb) loaf tin or 8" cake tin.


Bake at 180'C/Gas 4 for about 2 hours until a skewer stuck into the middle of the cake comes out clean.