The Kevin review., 1926-11-25
FruIt cakes for the Ho1ldaxa

Fruit cakes for the Holidays
To women, time is kind A woman. saws
an, English eSSayist can never attain real
charm until she is forty; before forty she
may be pretty or vivacieus or cute but
it is only living and experience which can
SO ripen and mellow her personality as to
give her fascination more potent than the
rouged cheeks or bright eyes of the cutest
flapper.
And time is kind to violins. to old wines.
to pipes and to fruit cakes. Thinking how
time constructs instead of destroys invites
me to further philosophize but the editor
does not want PHILOSOPHERS, can only slip
them in on the side when am telling you
about good things to eat.
1t is time to make your holiday fruit
cakes now il they are to ripen sufficiently
for Thanksgiving and Christmas Indeed,
age does improve them and the earlier
your fruit cakes are made the finer and
more mellow their flavor. The making of
the Thanksgiving fruit cake should be a
family affair. An old southern custom is
that everyone should have a stir of the
cake batter for good luck and so the old
black cook takes the big cake bowl around
to each member of the family: but | think
it would be ever so much better luck not
only to stir the cake but to help shell the
nuts and slice the .citron and chop up the
fruit. Mother can pass these jobs around
and the boys and girls will really have
helped.
The foundation of many of our fruit
cakes is a pound cake recipe which calls
for a pound of each of the Ingredients and
was popular in our Grandmother's day.
The recipe given below is for a dark fruit
cake and | am giving half measurements
so you may double the recipe if you wish
to make more:
Thanksgiving Fruit Cake
Y 10 butter; lb. brown sugar;
* 1b. Rex flour e cups); u Ib. citron
1 Ib. raisins; Id. currants; 1b lb. almonds;
6 eggs; tsp. cinnamon; 1 tsp. mace; V
tsp. nutmeg; Y tsp. allspice; u tsp.
cloves; "A cup fruit juice or wine or vine
gar; 1 tsp. salt.
Shave and chop heated citron Chop
raisins, blanch and cut almonds. Mix all
these together and dust with flour. Mix
and sift remainder of flour with salt and
spices. Cream butter and add sugar gradu-
ally. Add egg yolks well beaten. Add dry
and fruit juice. Stir in fruit
and nuts. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg
whites. Have pans creased and lined with
three layers of oiled paper. Spread cake
mixture inches thick in pans. Bake 2
pounds of cake or 2 bread loaf pans full.
the pounds: " pound brown
sugar is 1 1-3-cups; u pound Rex flour
For fear you are not well acquainted
with the cooks multiplication table, | will
Is cups; u pound citron is 2 cups.
For the liquid any kind of fruit Juice
may be used; grape, oranges, lemon, cider
Or vinegar. The vinegar is not too sour and |
1oes give a delicious flavor.
English walnuts or hickory nuts may be |
substituted for the almonds. If citron is |
not purchased already sliced, to warm |
t up a little will make it more easily |
handled. The pans are lined with oil paper
80 that the cake can be turned out easily, |
md also so that it will not form a dry |
rust from the long baking.
Since this mixture is heavy and full of |
ruit and since there is no baking powder
n it, it requires very slow baking. If |
mall tins are used, it will not be neces-
ary to bake it the full two hours but
cave it in the oven little longer than
'ou think it needs so as to be certain it
sthoroughly done. The top of the cake
nay be decorated with red and green
herries and almonds to give a very gay
ppearance.
our city friends for Christmas present
nd those people who are able to get for
themselves everything they need, a fruit
axe will solve the Christmas present prob
I'M. The white fruit cake, which recipe
, given below, has been a favorite one for
Christmas present also many women
ave baked a good many pounds of it to
I'll during the Holidays and to bring in
little Christmas money:
Agnes Choice White Fruit Cake
Ib. Rex, flour a cups sifted) 2. tsp. bak
hite raisins; / lb. blanched almonds; Y v
) citron; 1s lb. red cherries; 1 large d
,coanut grated; y lb. crystallized pine h
)ple " lb. candied orange peel; u lb.
ndied lemon peel; egg whites. S
Cream the butter, add sugar gradually. / u
IT baking powder and salt with half
e flour, and add alternately with liquid.
i'd remaining flour to chopped fruit and o
its. Stir floured fruit into cake mixture. o
Did in the beaten egg whites last Bake in r
af tins, lined with heavy oiled paper. T
Time 215 hours, temperature 250-300 de- l.
ees, or slow oven. Makes four good c.
zed cakes. ltt
Fruit cake is a valuable addition to an s
lergency shelf. Should friends drop in
r tea, thin slice of fruit cake with bread
d butter sandwiches and coffee or tea u
a delicious refreshment Or should un- ii
We prepared no dessert, a slice of fruit =
Ike with some canned fruit will top off "
e meal W
II a fruit cake is wrapped in wax paper B
d kept in good bread or cake box, it
ould be moist for many weeks. However,
IT happens to dry out it may be steamed
and served with a hot sauce for a
ddfng. The dark fruit cakes along with
E white brides cakes are always favor
a for weddings.