MCB's Fruitcake Recipe

This is not my mother's actual recipe….the one she wrote down 50 years or so ago…because I'm not sure
where that one is. I hope I still have it, but I haven't seen it in a long while.
 
ANYWAY, this recipe is close. I made it with her many times and the most important instructions are
here. The quantities may vary……and she never used Southern Comfort (that would have meant going to
the ABC store, and she wasn't going to do THAT!)
 
The very most important thing to know when making this cake is that the fruit is primary! There should
only be just enough batter to hold the fruit together.
INGREDIENTS…..

2c Light golden raisins (Sultanas)

8 oz Red candied cherries

8 oz Green candied cherries

8 oz Candied pineapple

16 oz Mixed candied fruit (this provides the candied citron, orange peel and lemon peel
that has become so hard to find)

2c Chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds (optional) (I prefer NOT to put nuts in this cake,
but I sometimes get overruled by my roommates.)

5c Sifted All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

3 tsp Double-acting Baking Powder

1 1/2 c Butter (softened)

3c Sugar

8 Eggs

2 tsp Lemon or Orange extract

1 c +/- Southern Comfort or Virginia Gentleman

 
Preheat you oven to 300⁰
Remove middle rack to allow space for tube cake pan.
 
Line a 4" deep, 10" tube pan with brown paper (grocery bag). (This make a nice craft project for the
younger helpers.) If you can't find a brown paper bag (what is the world coming to!), waxed paper works
too.
 
Coarsely chop the candied fruit. (The mixed fruit will already be chopped when you buy it. It comes in
very small pieces. The cherries and pineapple pieces, however, should only be chopped into halves or
thirds….no smaller.
 
Combine all the chopped fruit together with the raisins (and nuts, if you must) in a covered bowl and
pour the Southern Comfort or Virginia Gentleman over them. Stir, cover and let this sit overnight. Stir it
occasionally to blend.
 
Using a mixer, combine the softened butter and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and extract. Mix until light
and fluffy.
 
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Use most of this mixture to coat the fruit. (If the fruit is most
coated with flour, it will tend to clump together at the bottom of your cake and be ugly and look stupid.
 
When the fruit is well coated with the flour mixture, fold the remaining mixture into the batter by
adding a little at a time.
 
NOW! Pour the batter over the fruit mix and fold in with your hands! (Or a utensil….but, come on, hands
are more fun!)
 
When all is well blended, spoon into your lined tube pan. Fill the pan about 3/4 full as the cake will rise a
bit.
 
Bake for 3 hours, or until a straw inserted into the cake comes out clean. Don't overcook.
 
When the cake is done, remove from the oven and slide the tube pan over the neck of a long necked
glass bottle to cool. After the cake is cool, remove from pan and place on a plate or piece of foil. Slice an
apple and place the slices around the top of the cake. Then pour a generous amount of Southern
Comfort or Virginia Gentleman directly over the cake. Wrap the cake in a fine weave dish towel or foil
and then put into a lard tin! (If no lard tin can be found, use a cake plate that has a cover, preferably one
that seals). Store in a cool place for a few days until the liquor has done its work.
 
Remove the apple slices when you serve. ENJOY! (I always did! ……in fact, I always saved some of the
uncooked batter/fruit mixture so that I could enjoy it one spoonful at a time! "YUM!")

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November 2017....doubled the recipe. It made 2 tube cakes, 1 loaf cake, 8 small loaf
cakes and 18 cupcakes with about 2 cups left over to eat raw. Also, I soaked the fruit in
Ginger Brandy (thanks Louise Bohlinger) and moistened with VA Gentleman aft er cooking.