Ampleforth Abbey Cider Fruit Cake

Chop any larger dried fruit into small pieces, and put it all into a bowl. Pour the cider over the fruit, stir and leave to soak overnight. The following day, preheat the oven to 180ºC, 350ºF, gas 4. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Cream together the butter, sugar and honey in a large bowl, until the mixture has a light and creamy consistency. Add the eggs one at a time, giving everything a good mix after each addition. Don't worry too much if the mixture starts to look like it's curdling – stirring a spoonful of the flour into the butter and egg mixture should help. Lightly fold in the flour and baking powder, followed by soaked fruit and lemon zest. Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 170ºC, 325ºF, Gas 3 and cook for a further 1-11/2 hours, until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake looks like it is browning too quickly, cover it with a piece of greaseproof paper. Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.