Imelda's Fruitcake
"Oh my, it's fruitcake weather!" So begins Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory, in which a young Truman and his dear aunt Sook set about making fruitcakes for just about everyone they've ever met — or hope to meet — from President Roosevelt to baptist missionaries in Borneo, bus drivers to traveling knife grinders. Saving their pennies all year, they carefully source all the ingredients, including whiskey from a feared bootlegger named Mr. Haha Jones.
Sometime between then and now, people forgot the magic of fruitcake. What a travesty! This recipe is guaranteed to dispel any of your anti-fruitcake biases.
Ingredients:
- Sugar, 1 1/2 cups + 3/4 cup
- Flour, 2 cups
- Baking Soda, 2 teaspoons
- Pecans, 1 cup
- Raisins, 1 cup
- Salt, 1/4 teaspoon
- Eggs, 2, beaten
- Fruit Cocktail, 1 can, juices and all
- Evaporated Milk, 1/2 cup
- Butter, 1/4 -1/2 cup
- Vanilla, 1 teaspoon
Fruit Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar, flour, baking soda, pecans, raisins, and salt.
- Add the two beaten eggs.
- Add the fruit cocktail.
- Mix and pour into a greased, rectangular cake pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
Glaze:
- Mix together 3/4 cups sugar, evaporated milk, and butter.
- Bring to a boil and let boil for one minute.
- Remove from heat.
- Add vanilla.
- Pour over cake while it is still warm.
- Sing its praises!
