Sook's famous \"christmas memory\" fruitcake
1 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 2½ | pounds | Brazil nuts |
| 2½ | pounds | White and dark raisins, mixed |
| ½ | pounds | Candied cherries |
| ½ | pounds | Candied pineapple |
| 1 | pounds | Citron |
| ½ | pounds | Blanched almonds |
| ½ | pounds | Pecan halves |
| ½ | pounds | Black walnuts |
| ½ | pounds | Dried figs |
| 1 | tablespoon | Nutmeg |
| 1 | tablespoon | Cloves |
| 2 | tablespoons | Grated bitter chocolate |
| 8 | ounces | Grape jelly |
| 8 | ounces | Grape juice |
| 8 | ounces | Bourbon whisky |
| 1 | tablespoon | Cinnamon |
| 1 | tablespoon | Allspice Batter |
| 2 | cups | Butter |
| 2 | cups | Sugar |
| 12 | Eggs | |
| 4 | cups | Flour |
Directions
Cut the fruits and nuts into small pieces, and coat them with some of the flour. Cream the butter and sugar together, adding one egg at a time, beating well. Add the rest of the flour. Add the floured fruits and nuts, spices, seasoning, and flavorings. Mix by hand.
Line a large cake tin with wax paper, grease, then flour. Pour the mixture into the pan and put it in a steamer over cold water. Close the steamer and bring the water to a rolling boil. Lower the heat and steam the cake for about four-and-one-half hours. Preheat oven to around 250 degrees, and bake for one hour.
From "Sook's Cookbook" ISBN 0-929264-56-8 and made famous in Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory"
Sook, a teetotaler herself, got the bourbon whisky from an Indian bootlegger who operated a "place of sin". During Prohibition she had to settle for moonshine corn whisky made by a full-blooded Apache (who, some said, also ran a whorehouse). The account of this small, frail woman doing this in order to turn out a fruitcake is, by today's convention, remarkable (right, Scarlett?). Converted by MMCONV vers. 1½ Submitted By NANCY COLEMAN On 10-21-94