Spiced Dark Fruitcake with Brandy

Fruitcake #2, the near flawless result of trial and error.

Even better, the inside of the fruitcake.

So, I made fruitcake. But! It is the best fruitcake that ever was. It was so nice to come inside on the first snowfall of winter to the smell of brandy, blackstrap molasses and orange. I used a recipe for Spiced Dark Fruitcake With Brandy from about.com's Southern Cooking section, but obv. I made some adaptions, so many in fact that I will post the recipe here. It's so not my recipe, but no green cherries necessary. I used 12 different types of fruit (bulk section-induced madness), and 1/2 cup of brandy in the recipe plus more poured over the cake to keep it moist. This will also preserve it which is good because half of it will be mailed to my Grandpa in Ontario.

Spiced Dark Fruitcake with Brandy

In a bowl mix together:
-1 c. sultana raisins
-1 c. dates
-1/2 c. golden raisins
-1/2 c. dried figs
-1/2 c. dried cranberries
-1/2 c. dried pineapple
-1/2 c. dried cherries
-1/2 c. dried blueberries
-1/2 c. dried apricots
-1/2 c. dried currents
-1/2 c. dried papaya
-1/2 c. candied ginger
(NOTE: Ratios here not important as long as you have 7 c. dried fruit.)
-1/2 c. pecans
-1/2 c. sliced almonds
-zest of 2 oranges

Pour over fruit and nuts:
-1/2 c. orange juice
-1/2 c. brandy

Leave this to marinate for at least 2 hours.

In a large bowl, sift together:
-3.5 c. flour
-1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. salt
and this is your dry mixture.

In a separate large bowl, cream together:
-1 c. butter
-2 c. packed brown sugar

Then add:
-5 egg yolks (save the whites for later)

Now slowly add in you dry mixture, preferably using an electric mixer, food processor, or group of strong-armed children. Nextly add:
-1/2 c. blackstrap molasses

Then add in your fruit and nut mixture along with all the juice and brandy.

In a separate bowl take your:
-5 egg whites
and beat them until the stiff peak stage. Fold into batter.

Pour the mixture into your lavishly buttered bundt cake pan. Keep in mind the mixture is going to rise about an inch, so make sure that the cake will not extend past the shape of your bundt pan. If there is excess batter, make mini fruitcakes in muffin tins, but DO NOT say to yourself "Oh well, pretty close. I might as well add all the batter." or else it will not be pretty.

Bake fruitcake at 250° for 1.5 hours, then cover it with parchment paper or brown paper and continue baking for another 1.5 hours, 3 hours baking in total. You'll know it's down when you can insert a toothpick into the cake and have it come out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack. After turning out the pan, pour a capful of brandy over the cake. Keep the cake wrapped in a cloth and pour a bit of brandy over it every few days to keep it moist, if for some weird reason you haven't eaten it.