Holiday Recipe

Mom's Jamaica Spiced Black Fruitcake*

Every holiday season I hear and read all the fruitcake jokes, with a smug smile on my face. I love fruitcake. Not the leaden blond lumps of dough laced with what look like gummy bear bits, but my mom's fruitcake, a dark, rich brown, more fruit than cake (raisins, figs, dates, prunes . . .), with real candied fruit from a specialty store, fresh almonds, and enough rum to get you tipsy just smelling it. You have to start early (like a month early) but do give it a try. You don't know fruitcake until you've tasted this.

Ingredients

3 1/4 cup dried currants
2 1/4 cup seedless raisins
2 c. seeded raisins, chopped
1 1/4 cup sliced citron
1 1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
1 cup cooked and drained dried prunes, chopped
1 1/2 cup blanched whole almonds, toasted and sliced
1 cup chopped pitted dried dates
1 cup glazed whole cherries, sliced
1/2 cup glazed orange peel, chopped
3 cup dark Jamaica rum
1 cup butter
2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 1/2 tsp each, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg
5 large eggs
2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. Prepare the fruits and almonds and mix well. Stir in the rum and allow to soak one week.

2. Preheat oven to 275 ºF

3. Soften the butter in a large mixing bowl and gradually blend in the sugar and spices. Beat in two of the eggs.

4. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and add one cup to the butter mixture. Beat in the remaining eggs, stir in the rum-soaked fruit, undrained, and add the remaining flour. Mix well.

5. Line two greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans with brown or waxed paper and grease the paper lightly. Divide the batter equally between the two pans. Place a large shallow pan of hot water beneath the cake pans in the oven to prevent the cake from drying. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 2 1/2 hours.

6. Cool in the loaf pans one hour. Remove to a wire rack, remove the paper and let rest until cold. Wrap in aluminum foil and store in a tightly closed tin box. Moisten occasionally with Jamaican rum. Age at least one month before serving.

*The recipe is actually from the New York Times Cookbook, but since Mom has made it every year as far back as I can remember, I think of it as hers. Eminent domain or something like that.

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