Method

1. First, make the dough. Rub 15g of the lard into the flour in a large bowl until it disappears (the lard, not the bowl) and stir in the caster sugar
2. Add the yeast and salt to opposite sides of the bowl
3. Ideally, use a stand mixer to knead the dough – in which case, add the water to the bowl of the mixer, then the flour mixture. If kneading manually, it’s easier to make a well in the flour and add the water into the well.
4. Knead the dough. If using a stand mixer, use a dough hook and start on a low speed to mix the ingredients, then increase to a medium speed. Knead until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl as the hook goes around, and the dough is smooth and silky – this will probably take around 7 minutes. If you’re kneading manually, this will take a little longer – you’ll probably be kneading for a good 10 minutes.
5. Cover the dough and put aside until it’s well-risen (around doubled in size). This will take at least an hour, but maybe longer depending on the ambient temperature.
6. Meanwhile, mix the soft brown sugar, the spices and the currants, and cut the lard into small pieces, putting back in the fridge to keep it from melting.
7. Once the dough is almost ready, grease and line a 25cm, deep cake tin, and put the oven on to heat to a low temperature – 150°C
8. Pull out the dough from the bowl, and briefly knead it to knock out the larger air pockets and bring it back together. Then roll or stretch the dough out on a floured worksurface to rectangle – approximately 35 x 20cm, or until the dough is a 3 or 4mm thick.
9. Scatter half the lard and half the sugar / fruit / spice mix over 2/3 of the dough and gently press into the dough.
10. Bring the uncovered third of the rectangle over the middle third, then bring the remaining third over the top, giving alternate layers of dough and lard / fruit mix.
11. Roll out the dough again to approximately the same size and shape as before – don’t worry if the fruit and lard begins to poke through.
12. Repeat steps 9 and 10 with the remaining half of the lard and fruit mix.
13. <Can't have a step 13 – it would be bad luck for both you and the cake>
14. You will now have a rectangle of fruited dough. Gently roll it enough to form that rectangle into a square
15. Tuck the corners of the square underneath the square, turning the dough as you do, to soften the square towards being a round shape. Move around the “softened square” shape a second time, tucking the corners in and under.
16. Put the circle of fruited dough into the cake tin and gently fit it into the available space so that it’s a reasonably even depth across the tin. You don’t need to be exact as the dough will settle.
17. Put the cake into the oven, and bake for about 3 hours. Yes, that's a long time, but it's a low temperature. Nonetheless, every oven is different, so do keep an eye on your cake, and if it starts to look too dark, pop some tin foil over the top to protect it.
18. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin whilst the cake is still warm, allowing it to cool fully (or as fully as your appetite will allow) on a wire rack.