• Soak the fruits and nuts (not the one for garnishing) in orange juice, heat the mixture until its slightly warm. I used a microwave safe bowl for soaking the fruits and nuts and heated it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Let it sit there for about half an hour at least or if you are not in a hurry, you can soak it for about a couple of hours or even more for better results.

Preparing the flour mixture

• In a large bowl, mix together the following dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and baking powder and mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
• Also add the cinnamon powder and ½ teaspoon of ginger powder, mix everything until they are evenly mixed with the flour. Keep this flour mixture aside.

Preparing the butter sugar egg mixture

• In another bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar until they are well blended.
• Also add the white sugar and mix well until well blended.
• Beat the eggs very well in a different bowl, and add the beaten egg mixture to the butter sugar mixture. Mix this very well until the eggs are blended well with the butter and sugar mixture. Keep this mixture aside.

Preparing the spice mixture

• Once the fruits and nuts are soaked enough (at least for half an hour or one hour), filter the soaked fruits and nuts and transfer them to a separate bowl and transfer the orange juice used for soaking to a saucepan.
• Add one tablespoon of sugar also to the saucepan with orange juice, mix well.
• Also add 1 teaspoon of dried ginger powder, cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick to the saucepan, mix everything well.
• Heat the mixture in the saucepan in medium heat until the mixture boils and then reduce the heat and cook for another 2 more minutes. Switch off the stove and keep this mixture away from heat, and wait until this mixture is cooled enough which will take another 10 to 15 minutes.

Preparing the cake batter

• Once the spice mixture in orange juice (in the saucepan) is cooled enough, add the vanilla essence also, mix well and transfer it to the butter sugar egg mixture bowl slowly. Mix everything well until the spice mixture is well blended with the butter sugar egg mixture.
• Transfer the wet ingredients mixture slowly to the dry flour mixture and mix everything well until the flour is well mixed with the wet mixture.

Adding the fruits and nuts to the cake batter

• Add one tablespoon of sugar to the dried fruits and nuts (soaked in orange juice), mix well and also add the 1 tablespoon of flour to the fruit nut mixture, mix very well.
• Add the prepared dry fruit and nut mixture to the prepared batter and mix well so the fruits and nuts are evenly distributed in the batter.

Baking the fruit cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
• Transfer the batter to a greased cake pan and garnish with chopped nuts and raisins.
• Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top of the cake browns early before the inside is cooked (check after about 30 minutes), cover the top of the cake pan with aluminium foil and bake for the rest of the time. Allow the cake to cool down before slicing and serving!