Traditional brandy fruitcake

Place the butter, sugar, dried fruit, cherries, orange rind and juice into a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
Add the flour and spice to mixture, then stir in the nuts and eggs and mix well to combine. Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined 23 cm round cake tin. Bake in preheated oven for 2 hours then cover with aluminium foil and bake for a further hour, or until a skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool in the tin. When cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and place onto a wire rack. Make several small holes with a skewer and drizzle in 20 ml brandy. Wrap the cake carefully in two layers of greaseproof paper and foil, and store in an airtight container. Unwrap the top of the cake and drizzle over more brandy to taste, once a week, until cake is needed. Make sure the cake is well wrapped up again each time.
Serves: 30
Preparation time: 30 minutes plus standing
Baking time: 3 hours
Oven temperature: 150 ºC