Mom's Deluxe Fruitcake
rec.food.cooking/Michael Van Biesbrouck

This is my mother's fruitcake recipe. It was lost for several years, disappointing everyone. It has been typed up and posted so that it will not be lost again. The cake is best if started well ahead of time and left to sit for a couple months.

Makes about 7 lbs. Double the recipe to make a 3-tier wedding cake (plus some extra).

Butter and sugars:
1/4 pound butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar

Cake ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1/2 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Fruit and nuts:
1/2 pound walnut halves
1/2 pound red and green candied cherries
1/2 pound mixed peel (citron, lemon and orange peel)
1/2 pound washed and dried currants
1 pound washed and dried light raisins
1 pound washed and dried dark raisins

Other ingredients:
5 eggs
10 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained (reserve juice)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cherry Brandy (optional)

1 Cream butter and sugars in a very large container.

Add eggs and mix well.

Add crushed pineapple (save juice until later).

Add vanilla.

2 In another bowl, mix cake ingredients together.

3 In another large bowl, mix fruit and nuts together.

Pour the reserved pineapple juice over the fruit/nut mixture.

4 Add the fruit mixture to the flour mixture and mix to coat thoroughly. Then add this mixture to the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly.

5 Line fruit cake pans with 2 layers of brown paper and then 2 or 3 layers of waxed paper. Fill pans 3/4 full.

6 Place pans of water on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake cakes on the middle rack at 275 F. This takes 2-1/2 to 4 hours depending on pan size. Test center of cake to ensure that it is done.

7 Cherry Brandy may be drizzled over cooled cakes. Wrap cakes in layers of foil and store in a cool dry place for up to two months.