@aroc3435 Isn't nuts.com the best? I need to make the cakes before I start eating the fruit!
My recipe is my great-grandmother's originally--which puts it back what, maybe 150 years. It was updated when electric ovens appeared in homes and candied fruit appeared in grocery stores, maybe in the 40s, though whether pre or post WW2 I can't say. When my mother died, I found a few different versions. Probably she kept tweaking it, but it may have been because the ingredients available were different from year to year. I remember it always tasting the same every time, though that's probably not exactly true.
What I am sure of is that people raved over it and ate as much as they could hold. She would slice it thickly and cut the slices into smaller pieces. Then she'd pile the pieces on an oval platter with a small pair of silver serving tongs, and surround it with small, fresh, green holly leaves for decoration.
Here's the one I will be making. She called it White Fruit Cake, but it's not that light if you use dark brown sugar. I also sometimes add some walnuts without increasing anything else if the batter doesn't seem stuffed enough!
Since the timing is a bit vague, I start testing the cakes after about 2 hours.
Yields one 6-lb cake or can be divided into smaller ones.
250 degrees for 3-6 hours, depending on the size of the pans.
1 lb chopped pecans
1 lb glazed cherries
1 lb dried chopped pineapple
1 lb chopped dates
1/4 lb butter
4 eggs
1/2 lb flour (2 cups)
1/2 lb sugar (1 cup)
1T baking powder
1T real vanilla
6T brandy
Cream butter and sugar. Add whole eggs, one at a time, and continue to cream. Add brandy and vanilla. Sift baking powder with flour, add to creamed mixture . Keep out 2T of the flour to dredge the fruits and nuts; then fold them all into the batter.
Line pans(s) with oiled brown paper or parchment, then pack the dough tightly into the pans and put a piece of the oiled paper on the top of the dough.
Bake the cake(s) on the second or third shelf position of the oven, and on the shelf below, fill a shallow pan, like the bottom of the broiler pan, with 2 cups water, and place it directly below the cake pans. During the last 30 minutes of baking, uncover the cakes (there should be no water left in the broiler pan). They will be firm, but it's important to not overcook them to the point they darken and have a burnt smell.
Once the cakes have cooled completely, you can wrap in waxed paper and then in heavy foil. Store them in a cool place, not as cold as the fridge unless you have to. Every week or two, open the cakes and add brandy evenly across the top and let it soak in. You don't have to do much at a time, because you will irrigate it several times before it's ready. Also, the brandy you put in before baking will lose its alcohol, but the brandy you put in afterward will be full strength, so serve small slices or parts of slices, especially to children or people who are drinking other alcoholic beverages. It's a very happy cake!
When you serve the cake, it should be moist but not soggy, and dense but not crumbly. Be sure to close the wrappings very well between irrigations.
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