619. English Cake

I know it's hardly the season for fruit cakes, but the recipes just came to me regardless.
Last time I made the Dundee cake, I mentioned that it is very similar to English Cake, Fruit Cake, and Christmas Cake.
So this English cake, although resembling the Scottish Dundee, is completely levener-free (no baking powder, soda, or yeast), and has more of a dried fruit variety and quantity.
It takes a bit longer than the Dundee to cook, and it bakes completely flat; no bump on the surface.
I put dried figs, but you can also put dried apricots, dates, and/or prunes.
Again, the labor is a timely one, and took me three days of preparation because I made my own orangettes, but the cake really does last a long time and only gets better with age.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sultanas
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped dried figs
1 cup halved glacé cherries
1 cup chopped glacé peel
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 orange, zest and juice
1 1/4 cup butter, soft
1 cup, packed, brown sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 cup pecans
2 cups flour

Method:

Soak the sultanas, raisins, chopped figs, halved glacé cherries, chopped glacé peel, and orange zest in the apple and orange juices overnight covered in a bowl.
Next day, preheat oven to 300F.
Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Whisk in the eggs, one by one.
Manually fold in the fruits and their soaking liquid, the pecans, and the flour until just incorporated.
Pack the batter in a lined (bottom and sides) round springform pan (about 23cm diameter).
Smooth the surface and bake for about 3 hours, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let cook for 30 minutes in the tin before removing on a wire rack to cook completely.

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