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Nana’s 100 Year-old Fruitcake
Molly McMillan — Nana to most generations — sent fruitcake to family members at Christmastime. Her handwritten recipe credits the Minnesota Centennial Cookbook as a starting point but includes her own refinements. Where the original called for two cups of water, Molly replaced a half cup of the water with an equal amount of scotch or bourbon.
The basic recipe
2 cups raisins
2 cups chopped dates
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
(may substitute scotch or bourbon for a half cup of the water)
5 tbs. shortening
1 tsp. each cinnamon, cloves, baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup chopped walnut meats
1 cup thick, unsweetened apple sauce
½ lb. mixed candied fruit
2 cups flour, plus a bit more if needed
Cook raisins, dates, brown sugar, shortening, and water (or water/scotch) for 20 minutes. Cool.
Add remaining ingredients. Fill loaf pans, greased and lined with four thicknesses of wax paper. Decorate with candied fruit.
Bake for 2 hours at 300° — 1½ hours for small loaf pans.
On the reverse side of her handwritten recipe, Molly noted that the recipe had evolved over the years. “This is a moist cake, improving with age. Bake in November.” She then offers measurements for tripling and quadrupling the recipe, which is how she often made it.
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To triple the recipe (ca. 13 small loaves):
6 cups raisins
1 lb. chopped dates
2 lbs. brown sugar
4 cups water
1½ cups scotch
1 scant cup shortening
3 tsp. each cinnamon, cloves, baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups walnuts, chopped
3 cups thick, unsweetened apple sauce
2 lbs. mixed candied fruit
6 cups flour (dipped, not sifted)
plus up to 1 cup more if needed
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To quadruple (23 small loaves in 2000):
8 cups raisins
8 cups chopped dates
2 lbs. plus 2 cups brown sugar
6 cups water
2 cups scotch
1¼ cup shortening
4 tsp. each cinnamon, cloves, baking soda
2 tsp. salt
4 cups walnuts, chopped (used pecans in 2000)
4 cups thick, unsweetened apple sauce
2½ lbs. mixed candied fruit (3 lbs. in 2000)
8 cups flour (dipped, not sifted)
plus up to 1 cup more if needed
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Molly added these notes:
from 2000: “Two thicknesses of wax paper are sufficient”
from 2002: “16 small loaves, baked on cookie sheets for 1 hour”
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