Ingredients
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16 ounces Candied citron, fruit or peels 8 ounces Candied cherries 1 cup Dark raisins 1 cup Golden raisins 1 1/3 cups Calmyra figs, cut into pieces 1 1/3 cups Dates (pitted), thinly sliced 1 1/2 cups Pecan halves (or walnuts) 1/2 cup Brandy 3 cups All-purpose flour 2 teaspoons Baking powder 2 teaspoons Salt 1 tablespoon Cinnamon, ground 1 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground 1 teaspoon Allspice, ground 1 teaspoon Cloves, ground 4 Eggs 1 3/4 cups Brown sugar, packed 1 cup Orange juice 3/4 cup Butter, melted, then cooled 1/4 cup Light molasses
Procedure
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Mix fruits together in a bowl. Pour brandy over
fruits. Turn fruit mixture over every 20 minutes.
Soaking time is a matter of taste, but two hours is
typical. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare tube
pan: grease sides and bottom. Line bottom and sides
with greased brown paper.
In a very large bowl, mix flour, spices, baking powder
and salt. Stir until spices are evenly blended
throughout.
In a third bowl, beat eggs until fluffy. Add brown
sugar, orange juice, molasses and butter. Mix, making
sure that all the sugar dissolves.
Pour off any liquid from fruit mixture and add the
fruit and the nuts to the dry ingredients. Mix until
all fruit pieces are coated. Then pour in the liquids
and mix gently until you have an evenly-mixed batter.
Pour batter into pan and bake at 300 degrees F. for 1
hour. Cover pan with foil and bake for 1 hour more or
until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan. Peel off
paper very carefully.
Put cake in cake tin lined with foil. For the next 3
to 4 weeks, sprinkle a little brandy over cake twice a
week. Keep cake covered and store the tin in the
refrigerator. If you prefer to omit the brandy, cover
top of cake with very thin slices of apple instead.
