Black cake (jamaican fruitcake)

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02
 
       Title: BLACK CAKE
  Categories: Cakes, Jamaican, Fruits
       Yield: 24 servings
 
       1 lb Raisins; minced
       1 lb Prunes, pitted; minced
       1 lb Currants, dried; minced
       1 lb Cherries, glaceed; minced
       6 oz Lemon peel, glaceed; minced
       6 oz Orange peel, glaceed; minced
     3/4 l  Passover wine
     3/4 l  Rum, dark
       2 lb Sugar, dark brown
   4 1/4 c  Flour, cake
       4 ts Baking powder
     1/2 ts Nutmeg, grated
     1/2 ts Cinnamon
       2 c  Butter, sweet; softened
      10 lg Egg
       1 T  Vanilla
   1 1/2 c  Almond paste; if desired
 
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       2 lb Sugar, confectioners; sifted
       6 lg Egg white; room temp
       2 T  Lemon juice
            Dragees; for decoration
 
   In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the
   rum; let the fruit macerate, covered, at room temperature for at
   least two weeks.
 
   In a heavy skillet combine one pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup water.
   Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dis-
   solved, and gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally,
   for a few minutes, or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 cups.  Let the syrup
   cool; reserve.
 
   Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together into a bowl.
   In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the remaining
   brown sugar and the butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the eggs,
   one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla,
   the flour mixture, and 1 1/3 cups of the burnt sugar syrup, reserving
   the remaining syrup for another use.  In another large bowl, combine
   well the flour mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter
   between two buttered and floured 10" springform pans.  Bake the cakes in
   the middle of a preheated 350 F. oven for two hours, or until a tooth-
   pick inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it.
   (The centers of these cakes will be quite moist.)  Let the cakes cool in
   the pans on a rack, remove the sides and bottoms of the pans, and wrap
   the cakes in foil or wax paper.  Let the cakes stand at room temperature
   for a week.
 
   Roll out half the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form a
   10" round and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap.  Fit the almond
   paste layer over one cake, trimming the edge if necessary, and remove
   the other sheet of plastic wrap.  Roll out and fit the remaining almond
   paste onto the remaining cake in the same manner.
 
   Icing:  Using an electric mixer, beat 4 cups of the confectioners' sugar
   with the egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture will hold a soft
   peak.  Beat in the remaining sugar, and beat the icing until it will
   hold a stiff peak.  Transfer two cups of the icing to a pastry bag
   fitted with a decorative tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops and
   sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula, and pipe the icing in the
   pastry bag decoratively onto the cakes. Arrange the dragees on the
   cakes.
 
   Makes two cakes.
 
                                      Laurie Colwin
                                      Gourmet magazine, November 1988
 
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