Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in egg yolks, 1 cup of flour and sherry. Mix remaining flour and nuts, fruit and coconut. Stir into batter.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, fold into batter. Turn into greased and floured 10 inch tube pan and bake at 300 for 2.5 hours or until inserted skewer comes out clean.
3. Allow cake to cool thoroughly. Wrap in brandy soaked cheesecloth. Overwrap with aluminum foil and store in cool place. If desired, resoak cheesecloth with brandy from time to time.
4. (I soak the raisins overnight in the 1/2 cup of sherry – this makes the raisins nice and plump and helps them resist burning. I add the raisin/sherry mix when it says to add the fruit. This batter will probably be the thickest you will ever encounter – so have a big sturdy wooden spoon to mix with! For wedding purposes, I bake in a 10 inch round, 3 inch high pan with a flower nail in the center. I bake mine at 250 degrees for about 3 hours – don’t crank up the heat – the fruit will burn! Just be patient – it will be worth it. I wrap the cake in the brandy soaked cheesecloth, and then I put the rest in a spray bottle and spray the cheesecloth on both sides about every two weeks. The longer you let this sit – the better. The one for the wedding sat for 6 months! A few days before I cover the cake in marzipan and then in fondant.) Good Luck! I think this cake is well worth the effort!