- 3 cups of dry fruit (*)
- 3 cups of chopped nuts (**)
- 2 pounds mixed candied fruit for
fruit cake (this is the cheapest way to
buy fruit for fruit cake, in the large 2
pound tub, all mixed together)
- 1 cup margarine (2 sticks)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 1 cup fruit juice (or the syrup
from canned fruit or even kool-aid)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups flour
First measure and prepare all of the fruit.
The regular dry fruit must be soaked first.
Put your raisins and whatever other dry
fruit you are using, into a bowl. Cover them
with hot tap water and set aside. This keeps
the fruit moist while it bakes. Do not omit
this step to save time. I have tried to use
the raisins without soaking first, and they
do not turn out good at all. So always soak
the regular dry fruit before using it. The
candied fruit does not need soaking. Chop up
your nuts, use any kind you like. I prefer
not to use peanuts, but you could if you
really wanted too. Personally, I prefer
black and english walnuts. The peanuts just
don't do justice to the cake in my opinion.
Get out a very big bowl. In it combine the
margarine, brown sugar, white sugar and
eggs. Mix it all up very well. Add the fruit
juice or syrup. Mix again, until it is nice
and smooth. Now measure in the baking
powder, spices and salt. Add the flour, and
stir it up really good. The batter will be
quite thick. Be careful as you stir, to get
all of the corners of the bowl, so
everything is mixed in nicely. Next dump in
the nuts and the candied fruit. Get the
regular dry fruit, which is soaking, and
drain it very well. I use a colander and
drain it like spaghetti. Add the drained
fruit to the batter along with the nuts and
candied fruit. Stir and Stir and Stir. A big
wooden spoon works best for this task. Stir
and stir some more. Get all of the fruit and
nuts evenly distributed throughout the
batter.
Now generously grease four 8" by 4" loaf
pans with solid shortening. I say solid
shortening, because it makes the finished
cake easier to remove. Turn the batter into
the four loaf pans, filling them equally
full. Spread the batter to the corners of
the pan, because it is so thick it will not
run there by itself, like regular cake
batter. Bake the loaves at 275° for 2-1/2
hours. When you stick a butter knife into
the center of one of the cakes, it should
come out clean. The cakes will rise a little
bit, but not too much. Allow the cakes to
cool completely before trying to remove them
from the pans. This is important. If you try
to remove them while they are still hot,
they will not come out as whole cakes.
Instead they will come out as hot fruit cake
crumbs. I use a thin dull knife blade to
sort of help them out of their pans several
hours later. After they have been removed,
double wrap them, first in plastic wrap and
then in tin foil. These freeze very well.
They make excellent gifts to folks who like
fruit cake. Don't waste them on folks who
already hate fruit cake and will never
change their minds. People who already like
it, will beg you for the recipe, and you can
give it to them or not, depending on your
desire for the power of a secret recipe in
your repertoire.
* choose from raisins, dates, dry apricots,
dry pineapple, dry apples, whatever you have
available
** choose from walnuts, almonds, pecans,
whatever is most abundant to you
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