Uninhibited Fruit Cake

½ lb. currants

1 lb. raisins, seeded kind are best

½ lb. candied orange peel, cut fine

½ lb. candied lemon peel, cut fine

¾ lb. citron, cut fine

½ lb candied cherries, halved

½ lb candied pineapple, cut into thin slices

½ lb shelled pecans, coarsely chopped

½ lb. all-purpose flour

½ lb. butter, margarine won’t do

½ lb. dark brown sugar

6 eggs, separated

1 tsp. nutmeg

1½ tsp cinnamon

1½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp. soda

½ cup New Orleans dark molasses

½ cup red currant jelly

brandy, see instructions

Put orange, lemon, citron, and cherries in a bowl, pineapple and raisins if you like, pour about ½ cup of brandy over them, cover tightly and let stand overnight. Drain, saving brandy (good heavens, you wouldn’t throw it away, would you?) if any. Put all fruits and nuts in a large pan with half the flour and mix till thoroughly coated.

Use 10” tube pan. Grease thoroughly. Cut heavy waxed or brown paper [perhaps parchment paper] to fit bottom and side. Fit in pan and grease paper. Margarine is OK, shortening can be used if done thoroughly but lightly.

Cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating thoroughly.

Add enough fresh brandy to leaving to make ½ cup. Here you could use a fruit brandy if you want; I wouldn’t even be afraid to use a good, aromatic bourbon. But on the fruit you should use either grape or apple brandy. Sift the remaining half of the flour with the spices and soda and add, alternating with the brandy, molasses, and jelly, a little at a time to the butter-sugar mix, while beating. When thoroughly blended, add this mixture to the fruits and nuts. At this point you’ll have to start mixing by hand, if you’ve been using an electric mixer. When this is mixed, beat egg-whites stiff and add. Put in pan. Bake at 275°. As soon as cool enough to handle, turn out of pan and remove paper.

When completely cool, wrap in a clean cloth, well saturated with whatever booze suits your fancy—dark rum is excellent, Jamaica or Demarara, fruit brandies are good, plain grape brand not so good. Many people like port or (dessert variety) sherry. The idea is to saturate the cake with the fumes of the booze, not with the liquor itself, as well as to preserve the moisture of the cake. Put away in a reasonably airtight container. Open about once a week and resaturate the cloth if necessary. If you want to be completely uninhibited, use a different liquor each time, but stay with flavors that are complementary (e.g., blackberry and orange both go well with rum, but not with each other; cherry, orange, and rum are mutually complementary). With port or sherry, better stay with them or alternate with grap brandy.

Should be aged at least three weeks.

Notes: Dad’s concoction. He developed the recipe when Pat asked him for suggestions for a fruit cake. Deb, Dad, and I made it for what turned out to be his last Christmas.