I like fruit cake. Family conditioning maybe? I don’t know. I also like fruitcake recipes. (hmmm there are those of you who would claim that MOST recipes here are fruitcake recipes.) In hopes of perking up the realms of fruitcake giving, because, you know, no one that isn’t related to me has ever given me a fruitcake, I am going to dig up retro fruit cake recipes for everyone. This is my first contribution to the cause…even if the pickled peach juice seems well…hard to get a hold of.

Holiday Fruit Cake

Excellent cake that cuts into thin, whole slices. Expensive but worth it.

1 lb. moist candied pineapple
1 lb. moist candied citron
½ lb. candied cherries
11-oz package moist currants
1 lb. fresh dates, pitted
1 lb. moist light figs
1 lb. pecans, cut coarsely
1 cup medium syrup
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup juice from pickled peaches
1 lb. all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 lb butter or margarine
½ lb moist brown sugar, 1 1/8 cups, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
12 eggs beaten
½ cup light molasses

Use only the best of fruit and nuts. Cut pineapple and citron into thin, match-like strips. Cut the cherries into 8ths and the dates and figs into pieces about the same size as cherry pieces. Put fruit and nuts into a large enamelware or glass bowl. Make the syrup by heating ½ cup sugar and 1 cup of water to boiling, then simmer 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon white corn syrup to hot syrup and pour over fruit with lemon juice and peach juice. Stir, cover and let stand overnight, stirring 2 or 3 times with wooden spoon to moisten fruit uniformly.

Prepare 4 baking pans, 9″x5″x3″, lining neatly with 2 layers of parchment or smooth, brown wrapping paper. Have all ingredients at room temperature. Sift flour, measure, resift 3 times with next 5 ingredients. Cream butter, then add sugars gradually, cream well. Stir in beaten eggs, then beat until smooth and fluffy. Now stir in molasses, then add flour mixture in 3 or 4 portions, beating well after each portion. Turn batter over fruit, scraping it all out with rubber scraper. Now mix with hands or wooden spoon, lifting fruit up through batter until well distributed. Fill prepared pans COMPACTLY with batter up to within 1/4-inch of top. Press down and smooth top of batter with spatula, then pat milk over top to over with thin film. Place pans in a jelly roll pan 1/4 inch deep. Bake in a very slow oven (250 degrees F.) from 2 to 3 hours, time depending on size of pans, or until cakes test done. Cool cakes in pans on cake racks. Then remove cakes from pans but leave lining papers attached. Decorate and glaze cakes and let dry. Then wrap in moisture-proof cellophane paper and seal airtight. Store in covered box and let ripen a few weeks before serving. Chill in refrigerator 3 or 4 hours before slicing. 11 lbs.