Five days before Christmas is the perfect time to make my favorite butter fruitcake created in memory of my mother’s butter fruitcake.

She wasn’t much of a baker but, the week before Christmas, Mother always found time to bake. When friends visited during the holiday, she served thin slices of buttery pound cake filled with raisins and dotted with bright red candied cherries with a pot of tea. I’m baking the fruit cake today so that there will be time to infuse the cake with generous splashes of Myers’s Dark Rum before friends arrive.

This recipe started with my mother’s recipe but, when I cook, reading the recipe is merely the first step. I compare similar recipes, check out the contents of my pantry and fridge and get started, taking notes as I go, and trying to confine the inevitable sticky mess. Today’s version had dried apricots and cranberries, golden raisins and crystallized ginger. It’s baking while I’m posting. Here’s how I made it: … read more