Colonial Fruit Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sift and measure flour. Then sift four times. Wash currants and raisins and dry on clean cloth. Blanch almonds, peel, dry on clean cloth and chop. Slightly chop all other fruits and nuts, then pour all these ingredients onto a well-floured boare and sprinkle the spices over them. Wash your hands, roll them around on floured board until all are evenly coated in flour. Cream sugar and butter, then add beaten eggs and beat until mixture is smooth. Dissolve baking soda in coffee and blend with molasses; add to creamed mixture and beat well. Add fruits, salt, lemon and orange juice and rind. Cut in flour, pour into large oilpaper-lined (parchment paper) pan. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 3 hours.

Steps:

• Grease a 10-inch tube pan; line with brown paper; grease paper. Halve cherries; chop pineapple. Combine citron, cherries, pineapple, raisins, walnuts and almonds in a very large bowl. (You may even use your roaster or Dutch oven to do the mixing.) Sift flour, baking powder and salt onto wax paper. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of mixture over fruits and toss to coat. Beat butter, sugar and eggs in large bowl at high speed for 3 minutes, until fluffy. Stir in flour mixture alternately with brandy, beating after each addition until the batter is smooth. Pour batter over prepared fruits and nuts and fold just until well-blended. Spoon mixture into prepared cake pan. Bake in slow oven (300 degrees) 2 hours, or until top springs back when lightly pressed with fingertip. Cool on wire rack; loosen around edge and tube with a knife; turnout on wire rack; peel off paper. Cool completely. Sprinkle with brandy, if you wish, and store, wrapped in heavy foil, for a minimum of a week. Makes one 10-inch tube cake.