I know! I know! Fruit cake!
You have got to be kidding me! But wait...
My grandmother, Miss Nervielee, gave me the recipe for this delicious fruitcake. Cutting up the fruits and nuts is the hardest part of making this cake that has a delightful texture and is not overly sweet. If you like, you can wrap the loaves in cheesecloth and pour a little bourbon or brandy over the cakes each day for a few days. This recipe will change your opinion of fruit cake!
2 1⁄2 pounds candied cherries (green and red)
2 1⁄2 pounds candied pineapple
2 1⁄2 pounds pecans
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups sugar
14 eggs
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon extract
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Thoroughly grease and flour two 10-inch tube pans orfourstandard size loaf pans.
Cut the candied fruit into small-diced pieces. Chop the pecans.
In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. add the eggs. Blend. Scrape down the sides and around the bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix well.
Sift together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, along with the orange juice and both extracts. Blend. Scrape down the sides and around the bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix on high for 2 minutes.
At this point, the batter will need to go into a very large mixing bowl. Fold in the candied fruit and pecans.
Put the batter into 2 prepared tube pans. If there is extra batter, you can put it into a loaf pan.
Bake 3 hours. Do not open the oven door. Cool for 30 minutes before turning out onto a cake plate. These cakes keep well wrapped in foil.
Hint: This recipe is much easier if divided in half and made in two batches/ mixings.
Each loaf will serve 8-10 people Tube pan serves 16-20 people