My Mum made this Xmas fruit cake every year as we grew up. It's truly the BEST recipe, (the secret is the condensed milk) it's so moist compared to other fruit cakes we've tried, and it doesn't dry out for weeks.

I have fond memories of picking out the red cherries haha.

To make it gluten-free, we add 3 eggs and a mix of brown rice flour, tapioca flour and ground almonds, which works really well. Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 tin Condensed milk
• 1¼ Cups Water
• 275 grams Butter
• 3¾ Cups Dried Fruit – commercial mix or blend your own.
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• 2½ Cups Flour
• ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)
• ¼ teaspoon Salt

To Make

1. In a pot. heat together Highlander Milk, water, butter and fruit.
2. Boil for 3 minutes, then cool for about 10 minutes.
3. Sift flour, soda and salt.
4. Mix dry ingredients into fruit and stir all together thoroughly.
5. Pour into a paper lined 22 cm round cake tin (or similar sized square one)
6. Bake at 160°C for 2 hours.
7. Cool then wrap in paper and store in a sealed container until ready to ice or use.

Other Ideas:

• Decorate the top with blanched almond of glacé fruits before cooking – then you need not ice the cake.
• Poke holes in the cake when you take it from the oven and pour a couple of shots of brandy or rum over the cake.
• Add candied nuts on top to decorate (as in picture).
• In the fruit mix, we like to use sultanas, currants, raisins, cherries (a MUST), peel, crystallized ginger.
• We've also cooked this in muffin pans to make individual gift cakes, so reduce cooking time accordingly.

Enjoy!