I know, I know. It's only October. No one in their right mind should be talking about Christmas yet! But if, like me, you're a Christmas baker then truth be told you were preparing your fruit soak way back in September and are presently getting your cake on so that they're sufficiently sozzled by the time the big day rolls around.

As is tradition I'm sticking (generally speaking) with the Bourke Street Bakery recipe. It uses a lovely mix of fruit, and a good balance filling to flour so that there's just enough batter to hold everything together. The addition of ground almonds makes these cakes luscious and sufficiently dense to feel as though they could do some serious damage if used as a projectile, which is for me the true measure of a good fruit cake.

Wrapped up snug as a bug they'll be spending the next nine weeks enjoying the occasional nip of brandy before taking part in everyone's festive celebrations. It's a hard life, being a Christmas fruit cake...