This is our traditional cake for birthdays and Christmas. It was based on a recipe from our neighbor Marion S. It makes a wonderful moist cake that should keep for several days.

Ingredients

• 500g Sultanas
• Extra raisins(approx 200g)
• 250g butter
• 3 eggs (NZ Size 7)
• 1 & 1/2 cups Sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 & 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice or essence

Extras

• 20cm cake tin
• Baking paper
• Butter for buttering the baking paper

Method

		Put sultanas and raisins into a large saucepan and wash well. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 8 minutes. Then drain the water off. At this point I gently press down on the sultanas and raisins with a potato masher to try to reduce the water in the raisins – don’t press too hard. It’s to stop the cake getting too moist over the next few days
		Cut up butter and put in with fruit, cover and allow to melt over fruit.
	Using a reasonably large bowl beat up eggs with sugar until creamed.
	Add fruit, melted butter and lemon essence and mix well.
		Add flour and baking powder previously mixed together.
	Double check you have used all the ingredients list!
		Put mixture into tin so that the mixture is about 30mm deep – it seems to be hard to get a cake that is not too moist if it is too thick.
		Bake approx one hour, possibly an 15 minutes or so, at 180 degrees C – checking after 40 minutes. If cake is getting brown on top lay a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the cake, I find this is usually necessary at about 40 minutes.