My Light Fruit Cake

As I assemble the ingredients to make this cake I thought it appropriate to rewind and put up my original post.   Is it just me that can't believe a whole year has gone by and another new year is almost on us.  A person commented that it was odd this cake was called "light" which calorie-wise it is certainly not; the Light refers to the colour only!  

I want to share with you my Light Fruit Cake recipe.  I'm not sure why people make a joke about fruit cake at Christmas time.  In any home where I am from, fruit cake plays a part in the food eaten and shared during the holidays.  I've been making this same cake for many, many years and I've always had success with it.  You can play around with the amount of fruit you add and I think it will still  work out okay.  This recipe was in a small cookery book printed in the late 1950's; it was a time when women were still formally addressed by their husbands' names.  My recipe was submitted by Mrs. James Rumbolt and it seems funny now to read all mens' names attached to all the recipes. I don't  think they would have ever thought their names would be in print for so long in a cook book; no doubt these men would have rathered it be a book about boats or knots or even the weather.

Here is Mrs. Rumbolt's recipe:

                                Light Fruit Cake
2 cups butter                                    1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sugar                               1 1/2 cups dark raisins
3 eggs                                               1 1/2 cups golden raisins
1 tsp. baking powder                        1 cup mixed peel
pinch salt                                          2 cups glazed cherries
3 1/2 cups flour                                1 tsp. vanilla
                                                         1 tsp. lemon flavoring

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs.  Beat well, add flavorings.  Sift flour, salt and baking powder together. Add creamed mixture, milk and then fruit.
This was the original recipe, so you can see there was no mention of pan size, oven temperature or how long to bake it.  I had to work that out myself by looking at comparable batters.  I've found it fits fine in a large tube pan, and should be baked at 300 degrees for about 2 1/2 hours. 

My hubby loves this cake, especially the size of it!