Some links concerning the original: Original Emily Dickinson Black Cake http://www.poetrysociety.org/journal/articles/dickinson-cake.html http://www.recipesource.com/desserts/cakes/05/rec0594.html http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.04.05/belle-0518.html http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Suite/9048/DICKENSONemily.htm And my recipes this year: Subject: Fruitcake Recipes Jamaican-Style Fruitcake A combination of the Christmas Fruitcake and last year's Black Cake Place a shallow pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 225 F. 2 cups sugar, divided 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter 5 eggs 1/2 cup molasses 2 cups sifted flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cloves 1 tsp allspice 1 tsp cinnamon 1 &1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/2 cup rum 2 tbsp lemon juice 1/4 cup water 2 cups raisins or to taste 2 cups currants or to taste 1 cup citron (if desired) 1/2 cup prunes Rum for basting. Place rum, water, and lemon juice in a bowl. Add currants and half the citron. Cover and let soak. Place half the sugar, the prunes, the raisins, remaining citron, spices and molasses in a food processor and process to a wet, grainy paste. Scrape out of the processor into a bowl; add the remaining sugar and the butter, and blend till creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. Sift in flour, salt, and soda. Stir in remaining fruit, including liquid. Pour batter into well-greased pans, or greased and paper-lined pans. I recommend loaf or round pans; this is not a batter that will reproduce the detail of a bundt pan. Bake at 225 F for 1&1/2 hours (this is not a typo). Remove pan of water for last 1/2 hour. Let cakes cool before removing from pans. Remove paper and wrap in fresh paper. Douse with rum and set in a cool place for at least a week, preferably a month, basting once a week or so with rum. Cover with Royal Icing and serve in thin slices. This recipe was modified from Emily Dickinson's Black Cake. Title: Honey Fruitcake Ingredients 2 sticks butter or margarine 2&1/2 cups honey 5 eggs 1&2/3 cups flour 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cardamom 1/2 cup brandy 1/2 cup sherry 1/4 cup lemon juice zest of one lemon 1 tbsp molasses 2 cups diced assorted dried and candied fruit Instructions Cream butter, honey, molasses and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately to creamed mixture with brandy and lemon juice. Add fruit. Place in well greased and floured pans. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until set ( about 1 1/2 to 2 hours). Cool completely and wrap in whiskey moistened cheesecloth and store airtight. CHOCOLATE FRUITCAKE 1 1/2 c Calimyrna figs; stemmed,-diced, dried-about 7-1/2 oz 1 c Prunes; pitted and diced 1 c Cherries, pitted and diced 1 c Dates; pitted and diced 1 c raisins, roughly chopped 1/2 c Dark rum or spiced rum 3 tb Orange peel; minced 3 c All-purpose flour; sifted 1 1/2 ts Baking powder 1 1/2 ts Baking soda 3/4 ts Ground cinnamon 3/4 ts grated nutmeg 3/4 ts Salt 2 c sugar 3 tbsp molasses 10 oz Bittersweet (not unsweetened OR semi-sweet chocolate, -coarsely chopped 1/2 c Butter; unsalted, room-temperature Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Prepare pans. Combine fruit and rum.. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into medium bowl. Finely grind sugar and chopped chocolate in processor. Using electric mixer, beat butter in bowl until fluffy. Add sugar mixture in 3 additions, beating to blend after each addition. (mixture will be grainy). Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Using rubber spatula, mix in 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Add half of fruit, then remaining dry ingredients, tossing to coat evenly. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted near center of cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached, covering cake loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Let stand 20 minutes. Turn pan over onto rack. Let stand 3 minutes; gently lift off pan. Cool completely. Douse and wrap and age and store and decorate as for fruitcake. Alton Brown's Free Range Fruitcake 1 cup golden raisins 1 cup currants 1/2 cup sun dried cranberries 1/2 cup sun dried blueberries 1/2 cup sun dried cherries, chopped 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped Zest of one lemon, chopped coarsely Zest of one orange, chopped coarsely 1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped 1 cup gold rum 1 cup sugar 5 ounces unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks) 1 cup unfiltered apple juice [4 whole cloves, ground,6 allspice berries, ground,1 teaspoon ground cinnamon,1 teaspoon ground ginger] - 1 tbsp baking spices. 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs Brandy for basting and/or spritzing Combine dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add rum and macerate overnight, or microwave for 5 minutes to re-hydrate fruit. Place fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring mixture to a boil stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for at least 15 minutes. (Batter can be completed up to this point, then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature before completing cake.) Heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated. Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Check for doneness by inserting toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. If not, bake another 10 minutes, and check again. Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Baste or spritz top with brandy and allow to cool completely before turning out from pan. When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and if dry, spritz with brandy. The cake's flavor will enhance considerably over the next two weeks. If you decide to give the cake as a gift, be sure to tell the recipient that they are very lucky indeed. = ---- community notes: "this year" was 2005. One thing she may not have listed, but just known, is that it helps to toss the diced fruit in a couple tablespoons of flour, so each piece is very lightly dusted, both to keep it from clumping and because it helps keep it from sinking. This also useful for say muffins and quickbreads if you don't want something like blueberries to sink to the bottom. For some fruitcakes it matters less because there's just enough batter to bind the fruit together, though it still helps to keep stuff from clumping, particularly candied rinds or extra sticky fruits like chopped dried apricots. It's mostly an issue when the batter is thin.