Italian Black Fruitcake
Ingredients
1/2 pound raisins
1 pound golden raisins
1/2 pound currants
1/2 C. cognac
1/2 pound diced candied orange or lemon peel
1 pound candied cherries, cut in half
1/2 pound candied pineapple, chopped
1/4 pound chopped almonds
1/4 pound walnuts, chopped
1/2 C. sifted
1 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. mace
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 C. unsalted butter
1 C. granulated sugar
1 C. firmly packed brown sugar
6 eggs
1/2 C. molasses
1/3 ounce bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 C. apricot or strawberry preserves
Almond Paste:
1 C. confectioners’ sugar
1 C. fine quick-dissolving granulated sugar
2 C. blanched whole almonds, finely ground
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp. lemon juice or rose water
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Royal Icing:
3 egg whites
Salt
3 1/2 to 4 C. confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. glycerin (or use light corn syrup).
Cooking Instructions
Soak raisins and currants in liquor overnight. Pour off and reserve liquor. Drain fruit on paper towel. Combine raisings with candied fruits and nuts and dredge lightly with 1/2 C. flour. Sift remaining flour with baking soda and spices. Cream butter with both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Fold in preserves and floured fruit. Turn batter into two tube pans or three 9-inch loaf pans that are buttered plus lined with buttered brown paper. Press batter down firmly with hand. Bake in preheated 275 oven about 4 1/2 to 5 hours, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 30 minutes, turn out onto rack, remove paper and cool completely. Store wrapped in cognac soaked cheesecloth in airtight container. Once a month, drizzle more cognac over cake. Turn it every other month when you drizzle to even distribute liquor. For the two-year cake baste with cognac after one year. Remove cake from wrappings. Cover with Almond Paste Icing. Almond Paste Icing: Sift sugars together and toss with almonds. Beat egg yolks w. flavorings and stir into dry ingredients, adding more confectioners’ sugar if needed to make dough smooth enough to be kneaded. Add lemon juice if crumbly. Knead until smooth on a board sprinkled with con. sugar. Roll thinly between sheets of wax paper and cut to fit cake. Instructions follow royal icing. Royal Icing: Beat egg whites, salt, 3 C. sugar, lemon juice, and glycerin until mixture stands in stiff peaks. Add more sugar only if necessary to make paste stiff. Spread on cake in thin layers, letting each dry before adding next. To apply almond paste and royal icings: Brush surface of cake with a little warm melted jam (apricot). Roll paste as directed. After placing cut paste on cake, press into place gently and mold to cake. Store 2 days to dry icing. The royal icing should be spread in thin layers, as described above. Top the layer of icing with warm blade of spatula and decorate as desired. icings, used in combination, keep cake sealed and fresh for years. Store for one more year in a cool place, you will have a cake that taste like fine cherry brandy.
My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:3)