Irish Whiskey Fruitcake

Submitted by Debbie R.

"This is the fruitcake I made for my birth family for many years; my sister still loves it and swears it is better than any fruitcake she's ever tasted. I haven't tasted any that come close. It needs 2 - 4 weeks for the flavors to meld and age well. Prep time is only a guess."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 45mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 1 fruitcake

ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3⁄4 cup butter, softened (or margarine)
• 3⁄4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 (16 ounce) can apricot halves, drained and chopped
• 1⁄4 cup Irish whiskey, plus more
• Irish whiskey, to age and soak
• 2 cups seedless raisins
• 8 ounces mixed candied fruit, chopped
• 1 1⁄2 cups pecans, chopped
• 8 ounces candied red cherries, halved
• 4 ounces candied green cherries, halved
• cheesecloth

directions

1. Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mace and cloves.
3. Cream butter with brown sugar until fluffy/light in a large bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in apricots and whiskey. Stir in flour mixture until blended, then raisins, mixed fruit, pecans and cherries.
4. Spoon into prepared pan. Spread top evenly.
5. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours or till wooden pick comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Loosen cooled cake around the edges with a knife; turn out onto rack.
6. Wrap in cheesecloth, pour some Irish Whiskey over it every few days, and let age for two to four weeks. Overwrap the cheesecloth with foil. Keep in the refrigerator.

Reviews

[Baby Chevelle]

Well after all these weeks I finally got to eat this! Fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are loving it! This is the best fruitcake I have ever eaten. It was worth the wait!!! I made the recipe exactly as written, but I must say I used a lot of Irish Whiskey while waiting. It ended up making 3 loves for me, so coating it every couple of days is where u use a lot of Whiskey. I am one of those wierd people that think fruitcake is good, but everyone I served it too raved also. Thanx I will be making this every year for the holidays.