Prepare two pounds of currants by picking them clean, washing and
draining them, through a cullender, and then spreading them out on
a large dish to dry before the fire or in the sun, placing the
dish in a slanting position. Pick and stone two pounds of the best
raisins, and cut them in half. Dredge the currants (when they are
dry) and the raisins thickly with flour to prevent them from
sinking in the cake. Grind or powder as much cinnamon as will make
a large gravy-spoonful when done; also a table-spoonful of mace
and four nutmegs; sift these spices, and mix them all together in
a cup. Mix together two large glasses of white wine, one of brandy
and one of rose water, and cut a pound of citron into large slips.
Sift a pound of flour into one pan, and a pound of powdered loaf-sugar
into another. Cut up among the sugar a pound of the best
fresh butter, and stir them to a cream. Beat twelve eggs till
perfectly thick and smooth, and stir them gradually into the
butter and sugar, alternately with the flour. Then add by degrees,
the fruit, spice and liquor, and stir the whole very hard at the
last. Then put the mixture into a well-buttered tin pan with
straight or perpendicular sides. Put it immediately into a
moderate oven, and bake it at least four hours. When done, let it
remain in the oven to get cold; it will be the better for staying
in all night. Ice it next morning; first dredging the outside all
over with flour, and then wiping it with a towel. This will make
the icing stick.