BOURBON-PECAN HOLIDAY CAKE 
2 c. whole red candied cherries
2 c. white seedless raisins
2 c. bourbon
2 c. softened butter
2 c. sugar
2 c. dark brown sugar, firmly packed
8 eggs, separated
5 c. sifted all-purpose flour
4 c. pecan halves
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Combine cherries, raisins and bourbon in large mixing bowl. Cover tightly and let stand in refrigerator overnight. Drain fruits and reserve bourbon Place butter in large bowl of electric mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add sugars gradually, beating on medium speed until well blended. Add egg yolks, beating until well blended.

Combine 1/2 cup of the flour with the pecans. Sift remaining flour with the baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add 2 cups of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix thoroughly. Add the reserved bourbon and the remainder of the flour mixture alternately, ending with flour.

Beat well after each addition. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry; fold gently into cake batter. Add drained fruits and floured pecans to the cake batter. Blend thoroughly.

Grease a 10 inch tube pan; line with waxed paper. Grease and lightly flour waxed paper. Pour cake batter into pan within 1 inch of the top. Or bake in loaf pans prepared in same manner as tube pan. Place in 275 degree oven; bake tube cake 4 1/2-5 hours and loaf cake 2 hours or until a cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Cool cakes in pans on cake rack 2-3 hours. Remove from pans, peel off waxed paper. Wrap cakes in cheese cloth saturated in bourbon, then wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and store in tightly covered container in refrigerator for several weeks. Cut in thin slices to serve.

recipe reviews
Bourbon-Pecan Holiday Cake
   #55319
 Sharon Rowe (Florida) says:
Instead of raisins I put dried peaches. WONDERFUL
   #182415
 Frances Hohn (Quebec) says:
I have been making this cake for over 40 years--I found it in the Redbook magazine. Over the years I have streamlined my holiday baking, but this stays! It's different! I'm glad to fine the recipe here, because I can't find my copy -- I didn't put it back in its place. Thank you.
   #182631
 Bonnie (New York) says:
I, too, first made this recipe over 40 years ago. Even if you don't love fruitcake you will love this cake. I'm happy to see the recipe still around, although I still have a tattered Redbook copy of it from 1973.
   #189296
 DS (Missouri) says:
Ohmygoodness, I cannot believe I finally found my Momma's holiday fruitcake recipe dating back to the early 70's.

This is the only holiday cake my family ever enjoyed, as we couldn't stomach the traditional, overly-sweet fruitcakes with all that crazy green, red and yellow candied fruit that constituted a fruitcake 'back in the day' (and how odd that I can appreciate those versions now). :)

The only thing my Momma did differently is to keep her 'Bourbon Pecan Cake' refrigerated, sometimes for years, by unwrapping the cake and resoaking the cheesecloth in bourbon monthly, then rewrapping it tightly in the booze-saturated cloth followed by a layer of Seran (plastic) wrap and a layer of aluminum foil, until it was ready to grace our table the following Christmas.

And just like a home-cured mid-Missouri country ham, the cake only improved with age. :)

Thank you SO very much for bringing back this blast from the past!

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