Fruit Cake
- 2 cups shortening
- 2 cups light brown sugar
- 7 eggs
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons mace
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- few grains salt
- 2 tablespoons fruit juice
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 pounds currants
- 1 pound nut meats
- 2 pounds raisins, seeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 pounds date meats, finely chopped
- 1/2 pound citron, thinly sliced and cut into short strips
"Cream shortening. Add sugar gradually and beat for 5 minutes. Beat egg yolks until light and lemon-coloured and whites until stiff and dry. Add these to the butter and sugar mixture. Add milk, fruit juice, chopped nuts, and fruit that have been rolled in flour. Lastly, add well sifted dry ingredients. Beat mixture thoroughly and place in deep, round cake pans lined with several thicknesses of oiled paper. Bake 3 to 4 hours in a slow oven (275 degrees F.). If the oven is difficult to regulate, cover the cake with several thicknesses of oiled paper the last hour of the baking."
notes
A cake like this would not look out of place in a cookbook written a century earlier!
When making this cake, it would be adviseable to have a very large mixing bowl on hand as it will make quite a bit of cake.
Fruit cake wrapped up for gift giving
The cake I made was iced with marzipan, however the cake illustrated in the book (left) was left plain.
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