Fruitcake Pt 2

1. Twenty-four hours before baking the cakes (or as early on the baking
day as possible), assemble all the fuit in a large bowl. Stir in the dark
rum or brandy, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

2. Position 2 racks to divide the oven in thirds, and preheat the oven to
350F. Lightly grease the pans with solid shortening. Cut wax paper or
parchment liners or fit inside, and press the papers against the greased
pan bottom and sides. Lightly coat the paper with cooking spray.

3. In a large bowl, combine the egg and egg whites, brown sugar, oil,
honey, juice, applesauce, vanilla, and grated orange zest or orange
flavoring. Whisk, or beat with an electric mixer on low, to blend well.
Set a large strainer over the bowl and ad both flours, the baking powder,
baking soda, salt and spices. Stir and sift the dry ingredients onto the
wet. Add the wheat germ. With the whisk, or the mixer at low speed, mix
until just blended. Do not overbeat.

4. Stir the spirit-soaked fruit into the batter and blend well. Divide
the batter among the prepared pans, filling them about three-quarters full.
(The batter is very heavy, and while it does rise, it will not overflow the
pans.) Bake small loaves for about 60-65 minutes and regular loaves for
about 1 hour and 15-20 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and golden
brown on top, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

5. Cool the cakes in the pans on wire racks for about 10 mintues. Then
tip them gently from the pans, peel off the paper, and set them right side
up on wire racks to cool completely.

6. When the cakes are completely cool, if you like, wrap them in rum- or
brandy-soaded cloths, place in heavy-duty zip lock bags or plastic boxes,
and set in a cool, dark location to age for about 1 month. Renew the
sprits when they dry out. (Do not attempt to substitute fruit juice for
spirits; only alcohol will preserve the cakes.)

7. To glaze the cakes, set them on racks over wax paper. Drizzle some of
the glaze on top of each cake, letting it run down the sides. If you wish,
place a few nuts in the glaze before it dries. Let sit until the glaze is
dried and set, about 30 minutes. When the glaze is hard, you can wrap the
cakes in plastic wrap and freeze them, or give them as gifts, or slice and
serve.

Vanilla Icing Glaze: Whisk together the sugar, liquid and the extract. Add
a few more drops of liquid if needed to make a glaze soft enough to drip
from a spoon.

Nutritional Analysis per serving (without the optional nuts): 147 calories,
2 g protein, 2 g fat, 0.2 saturated fat, 30 g carbohydrates, 41 mg sodium,
3 mg cholesterol.