Fredericksburg.com

Basic Info

Title:

Helen Shanklin's Fruitcake

Rating:

Source:

Anne and Conrad Warlick

Notes:

The Warlicks recommend preparing the pans for this recipe ahead of time. Lightly grease pans and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. They use five small loaf pans, two round cake pans—one larger than the other—and five medium

loaf pans.

Ingredients:

1 pound chopped walnuts (of this, 2 ounces should be black walnuts)
3 pounds seedless raisins
2 pounds dried currants
1 pound dried figs, chopped, no stems
1 pound chopped, dried dates
4 1/2 pounds candied fruitcake mix (citron, lemon peel, orange peel, pineapple, cherries)
6 cups flour, sifted after measuring (one cup added to fruit and nut mixture)
1 1/2 pounds butter
3 cups firmly packed brown sugar
12 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons mace
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon Allspice
2 tablespoons nutmeg
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup blackberry wine
1/4 teaspoon salt (add to egg whites while beating)
a liberal amount of Bourbon, for pouring over finished cakes

Procedure:

Combine nuts and fruit with one cup of the flour. Cream butter well; add sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in egg yolks. Combine remaining flour with spices and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture alternately with blackberry wine. Add creamed mixture to floured nuts and fruit. Mix well. Beat egg whites with salt until stiff. Fold egg whites into batter and fruit mixture.
Place mixture in parchment-lined pans. Smooth tops of each pan.
Bake in preheated 275-degree oven for about two hours, or until cakes spring back when touched. Remove pans from oven and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and remove parchment paper.
While cakes are still warm, take a small pitcher of bourbon and dribble over cakes until they are saturated to the point that a little of the bourbon begins to stand on the top of each cake. Allow to continue cooling.
When cakes are cool, wrap individually in bourbon-soaked cloths. Place each wrapped cake in a plastic storage bag and store in a cool place, like a basement, for two to three weeks to ripen. You can keep them stored, wrapped in the cloths and bags, indefinitely. When ready to serve, chill in refrigerator and slice thinly.

Servings:

17 pounds of fruitcake

Cook Time:

2 hours

Run Date:

2008/12/10