Cindy Day’s bourbon fruitcake

Ingredients:

3 cups of sifted all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of allspice

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg 1 cup of butter

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup dark molasses

1/2 cup brewed black coffee

1/2 cup bourbon

3 cups of raisins

1 1/3 cup chopped red-candied cherries

1 1/3 cups chopped green-candied cherries

1 1/2 cups chopped citron

1 1/2 cups of dried pitted dates, chopped

3/4 cup candied orange peel, chopped

3/4 cup candied lemon peel, chopped

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans 1/2 cup currant jelly, melted 24 pecan halves

1/4 cup candied cherries halves Bourbon for soaking/ cheesecloth

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease two large (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pans. Line bottom with waxed paper; grease the paper. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, salt and nutmeg. Set aside. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and flour mixture, molasses, coffee and bourbon. Fold in citron, red and green cherries, raisins, dates, orange and lemon peel and coarsely chopped pecans. Divide batter evenly between two pans. Bake on center rack of preheated oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove cakes from pans to wire racks to cool. Brush with currant jelly. Arrange pecans and cherries on top to form a pretty flower. Wrap in cheesecloth soaked in bourbon. Seal and store.

PS: I like to make my cakes at least two months before Christmas. Then, every two weeks, I remove the cheesecloth from each cake, soak it in a bowl of bourbon and wrap the cake up again. I do this until Christmas. Enjoy!