Vintage 2008 Christmas Cake slow reveal

Just found at the back of the cupboard, cake baked and packed in 2008

Christmas is a time to eat rich food, and occasion cooking can be done in batches. I've just found a cake I baked in 2008 and put away. I am pretty sure that we ate the other one. I may have made three, it's hard to remember. This package shows that in a moment of culinary clarity I wrapped, tied up and labelled this cake and put it into a large tupperware box. I do have tins, but I wasn't feeling that scenic.

I used old string, and the string is now redolent of dried fruit, and seems slightly waxy. I used a granny knot. The greaseproof paper outer wrapping is folded over on itself, making a nice closure, and the paper is slightly tinged with a tan colour, leached from the brown sugar and dried fruit. The cake is heavy in its dry, aged state, and will be a good deal heavier once it has been doused with alcohol.

I hope it will cut into thin slices, like an english version of cakey panforte, but of course better. I want to eat it with a demitasse expresso. Or maybe a mug of strong tea.

folded over greaseproof paper 

The smell as I unwrap it is deep dark and fruity and the cake is so weighty. I imagined as I pulled the paper away that if I threw it across the room it would break into crumb and fruit - I didn't throw it.

The recipe I've used is the on my mother used, it's from a Times Newspapers cookery book, which I can't find right now, I'll add the recipe later. 

Here it is, bottom side up. slightly stained label. I'm please to see that I wrapped around the paper and tucked it into itself. The folding and tucking of the greaseproof paper is part of the ceremony of baking a cake like this. I'm trying to remember the smell in the kitchen as it baked slowly in the oven, with a gentle spice mix.

 The shadow stain of the cake is clear, marking eleven years of waiting.

Turning it over the cake is nicely shrouded, like a shy women in a voluminous scarf, or a poorly disguised fruity ET, bike and body omitted.

I'm using brandy. I've made holes in the base with a knitting needle. I'm getting slightly heady on the evaporating alcohol. Once this round of booze soaks in, I may put in some more.

It took four tablespoonfuls.

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