On Thu, 10 Nov 2016 16:56:20 -0500, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>I made mine today. I went out yesterday and got the raisins, glazed red
>and green cherries, pineapple, eggs, butter, flour..... I got up this
>morning and set the two pounds of butter out to soften up and mid
>morning I got started. Things seemed to work smoothly.
>
>After I put the first batch into the oven and started preparing the
>second batch I realized that I had forgotten to add the vanilla in the
>first batch. Perhaps it will not be a big a problem. I always douse the
>cakes with a lot of brandy. I am thinking that I can add some vanilla to
>the brandy that I use on the first batch of four cakes. It will be
>wrapped up and put into the freezer for a month and a half. The way I
>see it is that if that 6 weeks is enough time for the brandy to permeate
>the cake, then it should be able to infuse the entire cake(s) with the
>vanilla.
>
>
>At any rate, that is my first foray into Christmas baking. I need to get
>some more butter and work on shortbread, which also needs time to
>develop good taste and texture. One of these days I will pick up some
>mincemeat and make a few dozen tarts.

What, no glace'd citron, no nuts (I like toasted hazel nuts), no
chopped dates? I like to drench my fruit cakes with Southern Comfort.
Rather than one large fruit cake I bake them in jumbo muffin tins or
Nordicware mini Bundt cake pans, then because they are not those huge
anchors people who claim they don't like fruit cake actually eat them.