A well made fruitcake is a joy to receive and give. A bad one is the pits!! And there seems to be more bad ones that good.

And no wonder. Take a look at the ingredient list on the packages of some fruitcakes in the stores. The first ingredient for many is sugar, followed by flour. Where's the fruit? Oh yes - the half dozen candied cherries might qualify as the fruit. No wonder fruitcake has such a bad rep.

The Best Fruitcakes have only enough "cake" to hold them together. That means they are really and truly deserving of the name fruitcake. And they are yummy. And they are expensive!

Why not make your own??

                   20 cups of mixed dried fruit - raisins, dates, prunes, currants, and other dried fruit - you decide what you want in and what you want to leave out. Discard any pits. Add 2 cups of whiskey, brandy, or rum (optional)

• Add: 4 cups of chopped nuts - I usually add walnuts, almonds and pecans but choose whichever  you prefer. Mix thoroughly with the fruit.
• In another bowl mix the following

• Mix the fruit and flour/spice mixtures together by hand until well blended.

• Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. Test to see if done. If a toothpick comes out clean it is done. If not, bake for another half hour and test again. You may want to cover the edges with foil so they don't burn. You could also put a pan of hot water in the oven under the cake pans. Don't put too many pans in the oven at one time. They won't bake properly.

• When cakes are done, remove from oven and let cool for 1/2 hour before removing from pan. Place onto cookie rack. Brush tops of cakes with corn syrup glaze (optional)
• Wrap cakes with plastic wrap when cool. Overwrap with foil to store in freezer until use.