Fabulous Fruitcake…Believe It Or Not!

Tis the month before Christmas, and visions of fruitcake dance in my head.  When I was a girl my mother made the world’s best fruitcake.  Her cake became part of my Christmas experience…When I think of them, their memory conjures up pleasant memories of Christmas’ long past.  Somewhere along the way Mom stopped making the wonderful cakes, probably because they are time-consuming and labor intensive, possibly because the humble fruitcake is so misunderstood and under appreciated by many.  I’ve missed Mom’s fruitcake, and after much hinting that she tackle the labor of fruitcake-making, love again…to no avail…I finally searched out the recipe and made my own.

I know I’m not the only fruitcake lover out there.  Why else would Claxton flood the market with their variation each Christmas season?  This recipe makes a fabulous cake.  It was originally published by Wesson between 1950 and 1955.  It beats ANY fruitcake on the market, and though it is a bit time-consuming to make, it is so worth the effort.  My dear husband did not like fruitcake before he tried this one…now I have to make more than one…one to start eating as soon as it cools and one to age properly for Christmas.

Fabulous Fruit Cake

1 cup Wesson Oil (vegetable oil)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (packed)

4 eggs, separated

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground allspice

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour, separated

1 cup fruit juice (orange, grape or apple)

1  cup chopped  citron

1 cup candied pineapple

1 1/2 cups candied cherries

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped dates

3 cups toasted, chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Grease two loaf pans or one tube pan and line with paper.  Do not grease paper.  Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Mix all dried fruit and nuts together in a large bowl.  Add 1 cup of flour and mix well.  Set aside.

Mix 2 cups of flour and remaining dry ingredients together and sift. Set aside.

Mix oil, sugar and egg yolks together in a mixer bowl.  Beat 2 minutes.  Add the dry ingredients and juice alternately to the oil and sugar mixture ending with flour.  Mix until well blended.  Pour this mixture into the fruit and nuts and mix well.  Set aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Fold the beaten egg whites into the fruit and nut mixture, incorporating well, but do not over mix.

Spoon batter into pan/pans.  Garnish the top with whole candied cherries, if desired.

Place  in preheated 275 degree over.  Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  Cake will be brown and top will be slightly cracked when done.

Cool on rack for 15 minutes before removing cake from pan.  Cool completely on rack before removing paper.

This cake gets better as it ages.

I like to place a cake in an air-tight tin and place a layer of cheese cloth over it.  I lightly soak another piece of cheese cloth in red wine or good whiskey and place it on top of first layer of cheese cloth.  Every few days I re-soak the top cloth and replace it.  This adds “character” to the cake and helps keep it moist.

Note:  I do something that was not instructed in the original recipe so I did not add it to the above recipe.  It is optional to the recipe…but not to me.  The night before I make my cake I mix all the fruit together in large mixing bowl.  I pour 1/4 cup good red wine or good whiskey over the fruit and mix it well.  Cover and let set over night.

If you make this cake I’d love to hear from you.  Feedback is always appreciated!

Until next time…

A sharp bolt of hunger hit Luther hard. His knees almost buckled, his poker face almost grimaced. For two weeks now his sense of smell had been much keener, no doubt a side effect of a strict diet. Maybe he got a whiff of Mabel’s finest, he wasn’t sure, but a craving came over him. Suddenly, he had to have something to eat. Suddenly, he wanted to snatch the bag from Kendall, rip open a package, and start gnawing on a fruitcake.

~ John Grisham ~

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