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Fruit Mixture:
Cake:
Make Fruit Mixture:
Make Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In the large bowl of a mixer, cream shortening well, then add sugar and continue beating. Add eggs, one at a time, beating very well after each addition. Add honey, 3 heaping soup spoons full of ground fruit (remainder may be frozen for future use) and continue beating after each addition.
Sift flour, baking powder, and soda together, then add spices and ground nuts. Combine wine and coffee. Alternate adding flour mixture and coffee mixture to sugar/shortening mixture. Pour batter into baking pan.
Place cherries and nuts on top and bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Do not open oven door until the cake has been in the oven for an hour, then test for doneness. Cake will be done when it begins to move away from the sides of the pan or a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and turn it out onto a cooling rack, remove the waxed or baking paper, turn again and cool.
Poster's Notes:
Posted by Sue Epstein
Nutritional Info Per Serving: N/A
1/2 pound prunes, pitted
1 small can pineapple chunks
1/2 pound golden raisins
1 small can peaches
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
8 eggs
1 pound honey
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sweet red wine
1 cup strong black coffee, cooled
1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
1 jar maraschino cherries, drained
Additional whole pecans for top, optional
In work bowl of food processor, grind fruit and set aside. This will make more fruit mixture than you will need for one cake so you can freeze the remainder.
Grease bottom and sides of a 10-1/2"x15-1/2" baking pan (large roasting pan). Line bottom with waxed or baking paper. If using waxed paper, grease waxed paper also.
Great Aunt Rose Markowitz was the matriarch of the Epstein family. A family simcha wasn't a simcha without one of her honey cakes... and for good reason... it's wonderful! When Aunt Rose gave me this recipe she said she lines the pan with waxed paper. Aunt Esther insisted that Aunt Rose lined it with aluminum foil! Aunt Esther also sprinkled cloves over the top of the cake before baking and used exactly 30 whole pecans to decorate it. Today, I line the pan with baking paper and I miss their friendly arguments. This cake is as good today as it was more than 50+ years ago when Aunt Rose first started making it.