Cake Fruit mix 500g | Cake Flour 500g |  Red cherries 120g | Dates 160g | Mixed peel 50g | Mixed Spice 5ml | Flaked Almonds 100g (optional) | Margarine 125g| Castor Sugar 250g | baking powder 5ml | Bicarb of Soda 5ml | Salt 5ml | Eggs 2 beaten (large) | Water 250ml 

Syrup 

Sugar 125g | Orange Juice 125ml 

1.     Cut the dates into smaller bits

2.     Cut the cherries into quarters

3.     Boil the cake fruit, sugar, margarine and water together for 5 min (stir occasionally)

4.     Add dates to the fruit, sugar and margarine mixture and cook for another 5 min

5.     Remove the warm fruit, sugar and margarine mixture from the stove, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir  

6.     Allow the bicarb, fruit, sugar and margarine mixture to cool to room temperature

7.     Add the cherry quarters, Mixed peel and almond flakes (optional) to the bicarb, fruit, sugar and margarine mixture 

8.     Sift together cake flour, baking powder, salt and spices

9.     Add the flour mixture and beaten eggs to the boiled fruit mixture

10.  Mix well, if the cake mix is a bit firm add a bit of cold black coffee

11.  Put the cake mix in the prepared cakepan and bake 3 hours at 150°c or 300°F 

12.  Syrup: cook the sugar and orange juice together until the sugar is dissolved and pour hot syrup over hot cake as soon as the cake is taken out of the oven

13.  Let the cake cool in the cakepan

14.  Take the cooled cake out of the pan and store in an airtight container.