<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> I've been absent from this list for almost as long, now, as I was active earlier. (Dave and I have been busy opening a store.) But just for the holidays, I thought I'd drop in and include a recipe I worked out during the two spare minutes I had during the holidays. (Probably there are a dozen fruitcake recipes up stream -- if so, sorry!) Linda's Pound Cake/Seed Cake/Fruit Cake This one is easy! The fruit cake may come out a little dry unless you store it under powdered sugar at least a week. The Pound Cake and Seed Cake varieties will disappear very quicky, though. (Seed Cake is a British specialty. Try it -- the combination of pound cake and caraway seeds sounds odd but is really delicious. Start with just the 2 Tablespoons of seeds and you may find next time you'll want to include more.) 2 cups butter (not margarine), softened 2 cups sugar 9 egg yolks 1 teaspoon vanilla 8 drops rose water (optional) 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 2 cups brown rice flour 1 cup tapioca flour 1 cup corn starch 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon salt 9 egg whites 2T up to 1/2 cup caraway seeds (for seed cake) 1 cup each (choose enough to make at least 4 cups): walnuts or pecans; cut up candied pineapple; candied orange peel; candied citron peel; candied cherries; dates; raisins; mixed candied fruit (for fruit cake) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Drop in egg yolks one at a time. Stir in vanilla and rose water. Let this continue to mix while you combine the dry ingredients. Whip egg whites until fluffy. Add to butter mixture, alternating egg white and dry ingredients. Add caraway seeds. Pour into two greased bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (about an hour or more). To make a fruit cake: leave out the caraway seeds and instead add nuts and fruit -- whatever you like! -- until it's so filled with fruit that it seems everything is just coated with the poundcake batter (there should be just barely enough batter to hold the fruits together). Fill greased bread pans about 1/2 full and bake as above. Cool in the pans at least an hour before turning them out. For the best fruitcake, pour powdered sugar in a sealable tin, put fruitcake (whole or sliced to fit) in and cover with more powdered sugar. Store in a cool dark place for at least a week -- longer is better. (Alternately, wrap in cheese cloth and soak with rum or brandy before burying in powdered sugar.) Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------- This recipe, like all my recipes, is copyright 1995-1997 by Linda Blanchard. I grant anyone anywhere the right to distribute this recipe on a one-to-one basis, or in a not-for-profit newsletter. Any other use without my consent is prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Linda Blanchard [log in to unmask] Midland, TX, USA