Start the cake the day before you want to bake it. Remove the hard stalk from the figs and chop the figs, apricots and dates into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the cranberries and candied peel. Chop the glace cherries - some into halves, some into quarters and add to the bowl. Add the sultanas, raisins, currants and orange zest and juice; pour over the rum and Grand Marnier then stir everything together. Cover and leave to steep overnight, giving it an occasional stir.

The following day, preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Grease a deep, 18cm round cake tin and line the base and sides with a double layer of baking parchment, making sure that it comes well above the top of the tin.

Stir the chopped almonds into the fruit mixture. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, add the treacle and almond extract and beat until smooth.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, ground almonds and spices.

Fold a third of the flour mixture into the butter sugar mixture then add a third of the fruit mix; continue to alternate adding the flour and fruit until it is all well combined, the mixture will be quite stiff.

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, it will come above the top of the tin. Level the top with the back of a spoon and tap the tin once on the work surface to burst any bubbles. Wrap a folded piece of brown parcel paper around the tin and tie it securely in place with string.

Bake for 4 and a half to 5 hours until dark golden brown and firm to the touch. A skewer inserted into the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter on it. Loosely cover the top of the cake with tin foil after about 2 hours to stop it from browning too much.

Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle over a couple of tablespoons of rum, loosely cover the top with tin foil then leave in the tin until completely cold.

Once cold, unwrap the cake and re-wrap in a double layer of baking parchment then a double layer of tin foil. Once every week or two, feed the cake by unwrapping it and drizzling a spoonful of rum or Grand Marnier over the top, and bottom of the cake then re-wrap securely and store in a cool, dry place. Don't feed the cake the week before icing it so that the surface is dry.