Spoiled Fruit Cake

Yes, you read that right. No, despite its reputation, it's not the fruitcake that's spoiled. (However, Grandpa Roy did refer to it, affectionately, as "rotten cake.") This is an old farm recipe from Curtis' side of the family, meant to use up various fruits that have gone past their prime. You can blend up just about anything recognized as a fruit (uh, except maybe durian) and it'll work. I test-baked it recently, and the three loaves it made disappeared tout de suite. Sweet.

SPOILED FRUIT CAKE
4 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
½ t. cloves
1 quart dark fruit, blended
4 t. baking soda
1 cup oil
1 cup nuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 3 loaf pans. In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt and spices. Add baking soda to blended fruit (it will probably foam) and immediately pour fruit mixture into flour mixture, stirring well to combine. Add oil, mixing until oil is completely incorporated.

Add nuts, raisins and chocolate chips. (Actually, here's what the original recipe said: "Add any thing you desire: nuts, dates, raisings [sic], choc. chips, dried fruit, candied fruit cake mix, gum drops." So go nuts with the goodies, basically, as long as it all adds up to 3 cups.) Pour into prepared pans, dividing mix evenly between the three pans. Bake 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Makes 3 loaves.

...gum drops?...

Contributor: Betty Lou Myers