Christie C. I like to think of Fruit Cake as the “Candy Corn” corn Christmas. You either love it or you hate it. Admittedly, I love candy corn, but I can’t stand fruit cake.
Yet, after reading this 1776 fruit cake recipe, I might actually give it another shot ―anything with tons of egg yolks and brandy catches my eye! Translated from the 1939 copy of The Williamsburg Art of Cookery,
here you go!
FRUIT CAKE
Cream one and a half Pounds of unsalted Butter, and sift in one and a half Pounds of Flour. Beat the Yolks of eighteen Eggs very light, then beat into them slowly a Pound and a half of Sugar, then mix them with the stiffly beaten Whites. Combine. Add one-fourth Pound each of finely cut candied Orange-peel and Lemon-peel, candied Cherries; three fourths of a Pound of finely cut Citron and three Pounds of well-cleaned Currants which have soaked Overnight in one Cup of Brandy. Add the Fruits to the Batter and bake slowly in Pans lined with well-greased brown Paper for several Hours.
(Recipe prior to 1776, Graves and Hatcher Families.)
