Ingredients
1½ pounds raisins
1½ pounds chopped dates
1 pound pitted prunes, chopped
1 pound dried currants
1½ pounds dried tart red cherries
1 bottle Myers’s dark rum
2 pounds dark brown sugar
4½ cups flour
4 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
½ teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
Preparation
In a large bowl combine well the raisins, prunes, currants, cherries and dates. Add the rum and let stand, covered, at room temperature for 2-4 weeks, stirring daily to mix. Preheat oven to 350° and position the rack in the middle. Butter and flour 2-5 springform pans or loaf pans and line them with parchment or waxed paper. In a heavy skillet combine 1 pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup water, bring mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat, stirring and washing down any sugar crystals clinging to the side with a brush dipped in cold water, until the sugar is dissolved. Boil the syrup over medium heat, swirling the skillet occasionally until it is reduced to about 1¾ cups (syrup will be thick). Set aside to let the syrup cool. Into a bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. Add the nuts if used and mix. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the remaining pound of brown sugar and the butter until the mixture is light and fluffy; then beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, salt, flour mixture, and 1¼ cups of the reserved burnt sugar syrup. Combine this mixture with the fruit mixture and divide batter between the prepared pans. Bake for 1½ to 2 hours, depending on the size of the pans used, or until a tester inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. The centers of the cakes will be quite moist. Let cakes cool completely in the pans on a rack. Remove the sides and bottoms of the pans and wrap the cakes in plastic wrap or cheese cloth. Let cakes stand at room temperature for at least one week before eating.
