*  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                            Almira's Fruitcake

Recipe By     : 
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Fruitcakes

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   3      cups          flour
   1      tsp           baking powder
   1      tsp           baking soda
  12      \)tsp         salt
   1      tsp           ground cinnamon
   1      tsp           ground cloves
   1      tsp           ground allspice
 300      g             chopped walnuts (give or take)
 700      g             chopped pitted dates (give or take)
 700      g             halved glace cherries (give or take)
 700      g             fruit cake mix (candied fruit) (give or ta
 675      ml            cold water
 225      g             butter
 450      g             sugar
1350      g             raisins (dark and/or golden)
 450      g             chopped dried apricots
   3      large         eggs
  55      ml            decent brandy or dark rum

1.  Sift dry ingredients together. Reserve half.

2.  Use \)12 of the dry ingredients to keep dates and candied
 fruit from sticking together after chopping. 
A food processor makes chopping the fruit much easier, 
but make sure you use the flour to keep things from sticking.
 In general, hand-chopping is more work, but is much more reliable.

3.  Beat eggs very lightly, just until uniform.

4.  In a large kettle (10 quart minimum), combine sugar, raisins,
 apricots, and cold water.
 Heat until mixture steams, *** do not boil ***. 
Cook for 10 minutes without boiling, then add butter and stir until mixed.

5.  Cool until lukewarm. Add eggs, mix.

6.  Add fruits and dry ingredients in alternating parts. 
The mixture will be agonizingly stiff.
 Add brandy and mix. It will still be just as stiff

7.  Fill greased pans 2/3 full (12-14 450 g fruit cake pans).
 Bake at 140 øC . 
Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center pulls out clean,
 roughly 2 - 2 \)12 hours.
 Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove and finish cooling on racks. 
As odd as it sounds, SLOW baking is right, you don't want to
 caramelize the outside of the cake very much, if any.

8.  Wrap fruitcake in foil, refrigerate
. Will keep for several months. May be sprinkled with rum or brandy if desired.



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