Required: Six ounces of butter. Nine ounces of flour. One pound of currants. Five ounces of mixed peel. Two ounces of almonds. Six ounces of castor sugar. Four eggs.

One tablespoonful of milk. Half a teaspoonful of mixed spice. Three-quarters of a pound of almond icing. (Sufficient for a medium-sized cake.)

Beat the butter and sugar together until they are like cream, then beat in the eggs one by one. Add the flour, cleaned currants, chopped peel, shelled and shredded almonds, and the spice. Mix all well together, and lastly add the milk. Put the mixture into a cake-tin lined with buttered paper, and bake it in a moderate oven for about two hours. When done, put it on a sieve until cold.

Next cut the cake into two rounds. Divide the almond paste in two, roll it into two rounds the exact size of the cake. Lay a round between the two halves of cake, and put the second round on top of the cake. Mark a trellis pattern on it, brush it over with beaten egg, and put it in a quick oven until the top is nicely coloured.

Cost, from 2s. 6d.