Heartland Cooks: Love, marriage & Fruitcake

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - Every Christmas, Adelaide Parsons of Cape Girardeau bakes a fruitcake with a lot of history.

The recipe for the holiday treat that is packed with dried fruits and nuts came from her grandmother and namesake Adelaide Fitzpatrick.

When granddaughter Adelaide entered her 30's, unmarried in the 1970s, her mother wanted to encourage her boyfriend Robert Parsons to commit.

To encourage the budding romance, she gave Adelaide the infamous family fruitcake recipe. Adelaide made the fruitcake for the Parson family and three months later the previously reluctant to marry Robert popped the question.

The Parsons have been married for 36 years and yes, every Christmas Robert gets his favorite fruitcake.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. figs (diced)
• 1 lb. dates (diced)
• 1 lb. raisins
• 1 lb. dried cherries
• ½ lb. dried lemon peel
• ½ lb. dried orange peel
• ½ lb dried citron
• 5 cups chopped pecans
• 4 cups flour
• 2 sticks butter (softened)
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1 large wine glass full of whiskey

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine diced fruit (figs, dates, raisins, cherries, lemon peel, orange peel and citron) with pecans. Toss together to mix well. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs. In a separate mixing bowl combine flour and baking powder. Add dry mixture to butter, sugar and egg mixture a little at a time and mix. Add whiskey and nutmeg and beat until smooth.

Pour batter over nut and fruit mixture. There will be more fruit than batter.

Spoon mixture into four small greased and floured loaf pans. Bake exactly 30 minutes in pre-heated oven. Do not overbake. Fruitcakes should be golden, but not browned on top.

Allow loaves to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and continue to rest on a cooling rack.

After 20-30 minutes, pour brandy on top of fruitcakes and wrap in one layer of wax paper and one layer of tin foil.

Allow fruitcake to age, basting loaves with brandy daily for one week.

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