A cake with style as well as delicious flavor

a day in advance -- -- stuff dates and roll in sugar well in advance of starting on this cake project -- dates can be stuffed days in advance, just store well covered to keep from drying out. 

TOOTIES's LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

 (adapted from The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking School Cookbook)

Set the oven at 350° F
Line three deep loaf pans with aluminum foil.

 

Cream

            1 cup butter

Beat in

            2 cups white sugar

            1 tsp. vanilla

Beat until fluffy.  Beat in, one at a time

            7 egg yolks

Sift together

            3 cups pastry or 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

            1/2 tsp. salt

            2 tsp. baking powder

Add to the butter mixture alternately with

            1 cup milk

Fold in

            1 pound white raisins

            1 pound pecan meats

Fold in

            7 egg whites, beaten stiff

Have ready for decorating the layers

            l pound candied cherries, red and green

            1 pound candied pineapple fingers

            1 pound whole Brazil nut meats

            1 pound pitted dates (place a Brazil nut in each, then roll in white, granulated sugar)

 

Put a very thin layer of the cake batter in each pan.  Arrange on the batter whole fruit (using one kind of fruit for each layer).  I do layers in order listed above; but that's rather subjective.  Cover with a layer of batter.  Repeat until the fruit is used and put a layer of batter on the top.  
To make loaves even, work with all three pans at the same time.  Fill the pans to 3/4-inch from the top.
Bake 2 hours.

This recipe has undergone extensive kitchen testing before and after sleigh riding..  '04 Season Poppy did fruit layers; so, now we have a count -- each loaf uses twenty-four Brazil-nut stuffed dates -- should help you figure out how many dates and nuts to buy.  Our '04 dates and nuts were from Whole Foods, and they really were fantastic.

To see another family-favorite fruitcake, click here on Bourbon Pecan Cake.

You can find the above and related recipes by tapping here on the Home Cookin' index.

 

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