Christmas Cake with Toffee nut crunch

Fruit

2 1/2 cups chopped dried fruit (I used apricots &
cranberries)

1-2 cups Galliano or liqueur of your choice –
brandy, kahlua etc.

Fruit

Add the apricots and cranberries to a non-metallic bowl with the Galliano (or whatever liqueur you choose), orange juice and zest, and lemon juice and zest.

All the fruit should be covered.

Cover and leave at least overnight, or a couple of days in the fridge.

Cake

Preheat oven to 160c conventional bake and set a rack in the lower half of the oven.

Line the base and sides of a 25-28cm cake tin withbaking paper – have the paper coming up past the sides.

Set the rack just in the lower half of the oven.

Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into your largest mixing bowl and whisk to combine evenly.

Drain the soaked fruit through a sieve, reserving the syrupy liqueur juice in a bowl for later.

Crack the eggs into another large bowl. Add the sugars, oils and vanilla and whisk until well combined. Add the soaked fruit with a 1/3 cup of the syrupy liquid, and the grated carrot and beetroot. Fold to combine. (Note – if using gluten-free flour, add 1/2 cup of the liqueur).

Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and fold until well combined – I use a rubber spatula for this to get everything off the sides and bottom.

Scrape into the greased tin.

Bake in the oven for about 1 hour 40 minutes (a skewer inserted should come out clean). Cool slightly, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely. Seal in an airtight container for a few days until ready to ice.

Icing

To make the icing, beat the ingredients together until smooth. Add a little more lemon juice if necessary to thin it out or more icing sugar to thicken. Ice the cooled cake using a knife or spatula dipped in hot water.