Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds sultanas
2 medium oranges
1/4 pint brandy
8 ounces caster sugar
8 ounces butter
4 large eggs
8 ounces plain flour
2 ounces self-raising flour

Cooking Instructions

The day before baking, place the sultanas in a deep bowl. Grate the rind from the oranges, add to the sultanas with the juice squeezed from the oranges (about 1/4 pint) and the brandy. Stir well. Leave for at least 12 hours to plump up, stirring occasionally. Grease an 8 inch round cake tin and line with 2 layers of greaseproof paper. Tie a band of brown paper round the outside of the tin. Cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the eggs one at a time and lightly beat in the sifted flours. Fold in the fruit and all its juices. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake at 325 degrees for about 3 hours. If the top of the cake appears to be getting too brown towards the end of the cooking time, cover with greased greaseproof paper. To test whether the cake is cooked, insert a hot skewer into the center of the cake. It should come out perfectly clean. If any cake mixture is sticking to it, the cake requires longer cooking. Turn out and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight tin.

My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:3)