Christmas Cake

Take 1 ½ lb. each of butter, currants, flour, 1 lb. castor sugar, ½ lb. raisins, ½ lb. sultanas, raisins to be chopped, ½ lb. each of orange, citron, and lemon peel, ½ lb. ground almonds, 6 eggs, and a tablespoonful of salt and a small tumbler of brandy. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add eggs and flour. Mix well, add all the other ingredients, the currants being cleaned, the peel cut into shreds, and beat all together. Bake in a tin with ten folds of paper at bottom and five around the sides; to prevent burning the paper must be well greased. Bake from three to four hours.
Almond icing for the above: ¾ lb. ground almonds, 1 tablespoonful orange flower water, 1 tablespoonful rum, 6oz. castor sugar, 1 egg, 6oz. icing sugar, few drops essence of almond. Mix almonds, sugar, orange flower water, rum and essence in a bowl, bind with egg, and when cake is cold cover with this using a knife to flatten it.