Mrs. Maus's Fruitcake from "Entertaining"

This is the traditional fruit cake of Martha's family. It is a dense,
heavy, very rich cake which gets better and better as it ages. This recipe
is from "Entertaining," by Martha Stewart.

Makes 2 cakes.
For The Cake
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
12 eggs
6 pounds candied fruits and fresh nuts (choose from the following: citron,
lemon
peel, orange peel, cherries, apricots, walnuts, pecans)
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons allspice

For The Glaze
1 cup apricot jam
1/3 cup brandy

For The Garnish
Whole dried apricots
Pecan halves

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Butter two 9-inch cake pans or 2 loaf pans.
Line with waxed paper, butter again, and flour. Cream butter and sugar
until creamy and light. Add the eggs one at a time, beating batter until
fluffy. Stir in the fruits, nuts, and molasses, blending well. Sift the
flour with the allspice and stir into the batter cup by cup until well
mixed. Spoon into the prepared cake pans. Set pans in a shallow pan with 1
1/2 to 2 inches hot water. Bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours, until done. Test
with toothpick. Cool in pans on a cake rack. Remove from pans, pull off
waxed paper, and glaze with strained apricot jam heated with brandy.
Decorate with dried apricots and nut halves and glaze again. Let glaze
harden before wrapping in cellophane. Keep in cool place. To serve, slice
very thinly.

--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia D. Hill at .
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/