I've done what I usually do, which is make a cake far too big for our needs. It then gets quartered or sliced, frozen, resurrected and heated, with custard then applied. I did once send my old man out to foreign climes with some, hoping it didn't screw up his baggage allowance. I also made too big a pud once again this year. But I can recommend a good lighter fuel: double-distilled home made Romanian Polinka (plum brandy). Fruit cakes are one of the few things I make that can actually be cut and don't have to rise! Yes, weight wise they would be good ballast. My pastry and bread are so inedible that with the building trade already well supplied with bricks, I make models out of flour, salt and water, and flog 'em!

By the way, LTS, have you ever smelled burning holly? Don't tell me you'd gone completely Christmas and put some on top of the pud!

mouldy