Millionaire's Fruitcake

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: MILLIONAIRE'S FRUITCAKE
Categories: Cakes, Holiday
Yield: 4 Pounds

-MARY WILSON BWVB02B
1/2 pk (12oz) pitted prunes (1 cup)
- each cut in half
1 pk (10oz) dried figs; chopped
- (1 cup)
1 pk (6oz) dried apricot halves;
- chopped (1 cup)
1/2 pk (10oz) pitted dates (1 cup)
2 c Pecans
1 c Red candied cherries (8oz)
1/2 c Candied pineapple wedges
- (4 oz)
1/2 c Diced candied lemon peel
- (4 oz)
1 c Sugar
1 c Shortening
2 c All-purpose flour
2 ts Baking powder
1 ts Salt
1 ts Vanilla extract
5 lg Eggs
1/4 c Apricot preserves; garnish
Dried fruit, green and red
- candied cherries, and
- pecans for garnish

Day ahead or up to 1 month ahead: Grease 10-inch tube pan; line bottom of
pan with foil; grease foil. In large bowl, combine first 9 ingredients. In
another large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and shortening just
until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy. Add
flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs. Beat at low speed
until mixture is just blended, constantly scraping bowl with rubber
spatula. Stir batter into fruit mixture. Preheat oven to 325~F. Spoon
batter into pan. Bake fruitcake 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in
center comes out clean. Cool cake completely in pan on wire rack. Remove
from pan and carefully peel off foil. Wrap fruitcake tightly in plastic
wrap or foil. Refrigerate fruitcake overnight so cake will be firm and easy
to slice. To serve, if you like, in small saucepan over medium heat, heat
apricot preserve until just melted, stirring occasionally. Brush cake with
half of apricot preserves. Garnish top of cake with dried fruit, candied
cherries, and pecans. Brush fruit and pecans with remaining apricot
preserves. Makes one 4 3/4 pounds fruit cake or 36 servings. Each serving
without garnish: About 265 calories, 10 g fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 90 mg
sodium.

Source: Good Housekeeping Institute Recipes, December
1994.

-----