Jamiesons Cake

The evening before baking, combine the sultanas, currants, and candied peel in a large bowl. Pour over 120ml of the whiskey, stir well, cover tightly with clingfilm, and leave at room temperature overnight. The fruit will absorb most of the liquid and swell considerably; give it a stir before you go to bed if you think of it.

The following day, heat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius, fan setting. Grease a 20cm round, deep, loose-bottomed cake tin with butter, then line the base and sides with two layers of greaseproof paper, letting the paper come about 3cm above the rim. This protects the edges during the long bake.

Sift the plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt together into a bowl. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and dark muscovado sugar together with a wooden spoon or electric hand mixer for about 5 minutes until the mixture is noticeably lighter in colour and slightly fluffy. Muscovado clumps, so break it up with your fingers before you start if it has hardened.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture begins to look split or curdled, add a tablespoon of the sifted flour and continue beating; it will come back together.

Beat in the black treacle and golden syrup. The mixture will darken significantly and smell strongly of molasses at this point.

Fold in the ground almonds, orange zest, and lemon zest with a large spoon.

Add the sifted flour mixture in two additions, folding gently each time until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

Add the soaked fruit along with any whiskey still sitting in the bowl, and fold through. Add the milk and fold again. The batter will be thick, stiff, and dark brown, almost black in places from the treacle.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon. The surface will not level itself during baking, so take a moment to make it even now.

Wrap the outside of the tin in a double layer of brown paper or newspaper and secure with kitchen twine. This further insulates the sides and prevents a hard crust forming before the centre is cooked.

Bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 2 hours 30 minutes. Check at the 2-hour mark by inserting a thin skewer into the centre; it should come out with just the faintest smear of moist crumb, not wet batter. If the top is browning too quickly, lay a sheet of greaseproof paper loosely over it for the final 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave the cake to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack. Do not attempt to remove it while warm as it may crack.

Once completely cold, use a skewer to poke about 20 holes evenly across the top of the cake, going about halfway down. Spoon over the 30ml of whiskey slowly, allowing it to sink into the holes. Wrap the cake tightly in greaseproof paper, then a layer of foil, and store in a cool, dry place. Feed with another 30ml of whiskey every week if you are keeping it for longer than a fortnight.