Directions for Making Fruit Cakes

Ingredients

• a tablespoonful of rosewater
• half sugar
• two layers of heavy brown paper cut to flt
• two small hot water pans may be used if you like

Directions

1. Get fruit ready the day before, and pour over wine or grape juice. Have almonds blanched and ground and pour over a tablespoonful of rosewater. Measure spices, put in cordial, add to this jelly, but do not stir after jelly is added. Have flour browned in oven, cooled and measured.

2. Cream butter and half sugar and beat yolks light with the other half. Add these to butter, then put in cordial, jelly and spices; alternately add whites stiffly beaten and one-half of flour, then chocolate. Sift flour over top layer of fruit, add to batter, sift again and so on until all the fruit has been added. Put in nuts.

3. First line your pans with two layers of heavy brown paper cut to flt. Take strips of paper the depth of pans and carefully line all sides. Brush paper with fresh melted butter. You may have a little trouble in fitting the side strips smoothly; if so, slash them just enough to get a per- fect fit.

4. The pans are now ready for batter, which, of course, should be all mixed. Put this in pans with spatula and smooth in place. When pan is full, decorate top with nuts and fruit. Place pan on steel or iron griddle and put in oven of gas stove. Fix the rack nearly four inches from bottom of stove and under the rack put a pan of hot water. As this water only serves to keep some moisture in the air inside the stove, it need only be a small vessel. Two small hot water pans may be used if you like. Turn the blaze very low and keep it so.

5. If you haven't a gas stove, of course, use a range. Put cake pan on griddle and set on bottom of stove with small pan of hot water on the side. Or you can set the griddle in a pan containing a small amount of hot water.

6. When the cake is in and the stove started, shut the door and do not disturb it for one hour. Your cake must stay for sixty minutes absolutely untouched so it can season. After this it may be turned occasionally. From two and one-half to four hours are required for perfect baking. This depends on size of cake.

7. When you think the cake is done run a straw from top straight through to bottom. If particles of batter adhere, leave it a while longer, but watch carefully. When done, remove from stove and leave in pan until almost cold. Then while the cake is still slightly warm, run knife around edge to loosen thoroughly from pan and turn out. Two or more cakes can be baked at once, as they never bum if care is taken, and care surely must be taken; but if the instruc- tions I am giving you are followed, success will be yours. You will be repaid for your trouble by having a soft, deli- cious fruit cake that any housekeeper should be proud to offer guests and family as proof of her skill.