This cake tastes like Christmas pudding — a very, very good Christmas pudding — the sort the Quakers (as I’m fond of quoting) once magnificently condemned as “the invention of the scarlet whore of Babylon”. It’s rich, damp, treacly and so heady, it doesn’t even need the traditional alcohol in it. It also happens to be gluten- and dairy-free, and is a last-minute cake, so very useful if you haven’t got round to making that family recipe that needs to be baked ahead and fed with brandy for 6 months. And please read the Additional Information section at the end of the recipe before proceeding. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.