Old Fashioned Dark Sweet Fruitcake
Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes/Paula Hicks

This is an easy holiday recipe. Don't let the long list of ingredients discourage you. This cake goes together quickly, once you have the ingredients. Some of my best Christmas memories include my Mother's homemade fruitcake. Well, Mom's recipe is long lost, so this is my own that I've developed over the past few years and it closely resembles my Mother's. There are those who like fruitcake and those who don't. Those who don't, have never tasted THIS recipe. There's nothing like a big slice of homemade fruitcake and a hot cup of coffee on a cold December morning. People say that fruitcakes will keep for months or even years packed in a tin. Mine have never lasted more than a few days, so I couldn't say. This cake bears no resemblance to those awful store bought fruitcakes that are passed around at Christmas time.

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each: cloves, allspice and nutmeg
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped dried figs
3/4 cup candied cherries (save some for garnish)
2 ounces red wine, rum or brandy
2 heaping tablespoons orange marmalade
3 slices of red, green or yellow candied pineapple (goes in bottom of pan)
12-15 pecan halves for garnish
2 tablespoons white corn syrup mixed with a little liquor for glaze

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a latching tube cake pan with shortening and line insides with strips of greased wax paper. Then thoroughly flour the pan. Later, you will need a pastry brush. If you don't have a tube cake pan you can use a Bundt cake pan or two medium loaf pans. Again, don't forget to thoroughly grease and flour your pans.

Cream butter, sugar and eggs with mixer. Add soda to buttermilk and then combine with flour and creamed mixture. Add baking powder, salt and all spices. Add liquor and orange marmalade. Mix until you have a smooth cake batter. Then, gently fold in by hand all fruits and nuts except those for garnish. Place pineapple rings in bottom of tube pan and place a candied cherry in center of each. Pour batter into pan and bake on center rack approximately 2 hours in a 325 degree oven. Use toothpick to check for doneness. Unlatch tube pan and carefully remove to wire cooling rack. Gently peel away any wax paper. Mix 2 tablespoons of hot water (or liquor) with two tablespoons for white corn syrup and brush over fruitcake for a shiny glaze. Use corn syrup mixture to "glue" pecan halves on top in a flower petal design.