1. 2 days in advance soak the dry fruits in rum. I used raisins, sultanas, cherries, walnuts, cashews and dates for my fruit mixture. You can use any dry fruits for this recipe. In Goa, people soak their dry fruits even a year in advance for Christmas cakes. The more days you store it, more rum will be absorbed in the fruits. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. In a mixing bowl, sieve all purpose flour and baking powder.

2. Add in the ground spices (cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg). Also add in the almond meal.

3. Mix everything well and set aside. In a bowl, drain the rum from the fruits.

4. Zest an orange. Squeeze and strain the juice from the orange in the same bowl in which the rum is. Keep this liquid mixture aside. Take around 4 tablespoons of the flour mix and sprinkle it over the dry fruits. This will prevent the dry fruits from sinking to the bottom during the cooking process.

5. In another mixing bowl, add butter at room temperature and brown sugar. Whisk until a smooth paste is formed. Add in eggs that are at room temperature one at a time.

6. Now add in the zest of the orange. Add in the rum and orange juice mixture as well. Mix everything well.

7. Now gently fold the flour mixture, little at a time. The consistency for this cake is thicker and paste like unlike other cakes.

8. Gently fold in the dry fruits.

9. Now pour this mixture in a 9x12 inch pan which was already lined with butter and dusted with flour to prevent the cake from sticking. Spread evenly.

10. Let it cook in the preheated oven at 350 degree F for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes clear from the center of the cake. Let the cake rest in the same pan overnight or until completely cooled. At this stage you could feed it with rum every alternate day for at least 5 times. I chose not to feed it with rum. Just cut and serve during tea time. Note: This is not kid friendly since it has rum/brandy in it