Mom's Fruit Cake Recipe - For All Who Have Asked

 Christmas Fruit Cake

Claudine Cable via her Mom, Dawn Mangum via Aunt Rula Turner
(Best made in October for the Christmas holidays.)

1 ¾ cups shortening (Crisco)

2 cups sugar                                           Preparation Time 3+ hours plus baking time.

1 large jar grape jelly (Welch’s 32 oz.)

 1 teaspoon cloves           

1 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

8 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup molasses (or slightly less)                                    Large can Pineapple Juice

2 teaspoons salt                                                             6 new Handi-Wipes

2 cups raisins

2 cups dried currants

32 oz. fruit cake mix (2 16-oz. containers)

1 16-oz. jar maraschino cherries (cut up)

1 lb. or more gumdrops (2 18 oz. pkgs.) (cut up – use scissors)

            [Do not use the black ones.]

2 cups walnuts (cut up)

1 ½ teaspoon soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

3/4 cup sour milk  (add a little vinegar or lemon juice to sour)

7 cups flour (and use ½ whole wheat desired)

            Prepare the cherries and gumdrops.

(I mixed all the ingredients, in order, down to the raisins in my KitchenAid stand-up mixer.  Then I poured this into a large pan (I used a cold-pack canner, Mom used a dish pan) to mix the rest of the ingredients.) 

            Cream shortening with sugar until soft and light.  Add jelly, stir until smooth.  Add spices, vanilla, then eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  Add molasses and salt.  Stir.  Now add raisins, currents, fruit cake mix, maraschino cherries, gumdrops and nuts.  Mix well.   Add soda dissolved in water, then sour milk.  Beat until smooth.  Add flour. 

            I used a Bundt Pan, a Pyrex loaf pan and 3 medium loaf pans sprayed with Pam. The fruit cake does not rise very much so you can fill them to about ¾ inch from the top. 

            Bake at 300° for 1½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Those baked in the larger pans took longer.  Cool in pans to touch.  Turn out on wire racks.  When cold, wrap in Handi-Wipes soaked in Pineapple Juice.  Then wrap in aluminum foil (Heavy Reynolds Wrap).  Store in Zip-Lock bags.  Will keep for a year.