Unexpected guests and no Christmas cake to serve? This last-minute loaf tastes as if it had been made in November. Decorate with a snow shower of icing sugar.

Ingredients

200g raisins and sultanas

50g sour cherries

100g dried figs, chopped

150g mixed peel

1 orange

, zested and juiced

250ml brandy

115g butter

, plus extra melted for the tin

115g muscovado sugar

4 eggs

, beaten

120g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

60g brioche crumbs

40g chopped pecans and pistachios

½ tsp ground mace

½ tsp ground cinnamon

icing sugar, to serve (optional)

Method

-Tip the fruit and peel into a bowl with the orange juice and zest and 150ml of the brandy. Stir well, then leave in a warm place for 2 hrs for the fruit to plump up.

-Heat oven to 170C/150C fan/gas 4. Brush a 900g loaf tin with the melted butter, then line with baking parchment. Beat the muscovado sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Mix in the fruit and the rest of the ingredients except for the remaining brandy and icing sugar. Spoon the mixture into the loaf tin, put the tin in a deep tray and bake for 1 hr 15 mins-1 hr 30 mins or until a skewer prodded in comes out clean. Remove from the oven and immediately pour over the brandy (this makes it easier for the cake to soak it up). Leave to cool, then dust with icing sugar, if using.