Although this resembles the Italian Christmas cake, pandolce genovese, it’s still a top British cake. You can find recipes for it in many 19th-century cookbooks.
This version is based on Robert Wells’s recipe from ‘The Bread and Biscuit Baker’s and Sugar-Boiler’s Assistant’ from 1890. He gives instructions to make a square cake, but I find a loaf shape more convenient. Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 2 hours Six to 10 METHOD Recipe from Oats in the North, Wheat from the South: The history of British Baking, Savoury and Sweet (Murdoch Books, £25).
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