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Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake

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This recipe has been published in the Tampa Tribune every year since 1951. It is world famous. Mrs. Harvey died in 1987.
This recipe is entirely different from other fruit cake recipes.

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Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake 0 Picture

Ingredients

  • 4 c. shelled pecans
  • 1 pound candied cherries
  • 1 pound candied pineapple
  • 1 3/4 c. flour
  • 1/2 pound butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 to 2 ounces vanilla extract
  • 1/2 to 2 ounces lemon extract
  • apricot brandy

Details

Servings 24

Preparation

Step 1

Chop nuts and fruit in medium size pieces; dredge with 1/4 c. flour. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Sift together remaining flour and baking powder; fold into butter - egg mixture. Stir in vanilla and lemon extracts. Blend in fruit and nuts. Grease a 10 inch tube pan.
Line with parchment, waxed paper or foil; grease again. Pour batter into prepared pan or pans. Place in cold oven and bake at 250 degrees for 2 1/2 to 3 hours
or 2 hours in 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans. Check cakes 1 hour before done, again in 30 min. When done, remove from oven; cool in pans or cake rack.
Makes 5 pounds of fruitcake.
NOTE; In 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch baby loaf pans. bake for about 1 hr. For 1 pound cakes in 2 pound coffee cans, bake about 2 hours. In 5 ounce custard cups, the baking time is about 1 hr.. And in ungreased foil bonbon cups, baking time is about 30 min.

When fruitcake time rolls around, she tosses out her can of baking powder and buys a fresh one. "You don't want to mess up the fruitcake because the baking powder isn't right," she cautions. She prefers loaf pans to tube pans. She likes 2 ounces each of vanilla and lemon extract. While the cakes are cooling on a wire rack, she uses a small paintbrush- reserved for fruitcake garnishing only - to slather on apricot brandy.
After wrapping the cooled fruitcakes in 2 sheets of aluminum foil, she begins what she calls a "ripening" process. For the next 2 weeks, the cakes are basted in brandy and kept at room temp. Then into Frig for chilling and easier slicing.

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