How To make Black Cake

Ingredients
1
pound
raisins, minced
1
pound
prunes, pitted, minced
1
pound
currants, dried, minced
1
pound
cherries, glaced, minced
6
oz
lemon peel, glaced, minced
6
oz
orange peel, glaced, minced
3/4
l
passover wine, (Manischewitz is good)
3/4
l
rum, dark
2
pound
sugar, dark brown
4 1/4
cup
flour, cake
4
teaspoon
baking powder
1/2
teaspoon
nutmeg, grated
1/2
teaspoon
cinnamon
2
cup
butter, sweet, softened
10
lg
egg
1
tablespoon
vanilla
1 1/2
cup
almond paste, if desired
 
 

ICING:

2
pound
Sugar, confectioners, sifted
6
lg
rgg whites, room temp
2
tablespoon
lemon juice
1

Drages, for decoration

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the rum;
let the fruit macerate, covered, at room temperature for at least two
weeks. In a heavy skillet combine one pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup
water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is
dissolved, and gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally,
for a few minutes, or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 cups. Let the syrup
cool; reserve. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together
into a bowl. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the
remaining brown sugar and the butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the
eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla,
the flour mixture, and 1 1/3 cups of the burnt sugar syrup, reserving the
remaining syrup for another use. In another large bowl, combine well the
flour mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter between two
buttered and floured 10 inches springform pans. Bake the cakes in the middle of a
preheated 350 F. oven for two hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the
centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. (The centers of these
cakes will be quite moist.)
Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack,
remove the sides and bottoms of the pans, and wrap the cakes in foil or wax
paper. Let the cakes stand at room temperature for a week. Roll out half
the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form a 10 inches round and
remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Fit the almond paste layer over one
cake, trimming the edge if necessary, and remove the other sheet of plastic
wrap. Roll out and fit the remaining almond paste onto the remaining cake
in the same manner. ICING: Using an electric mixer, beat 4 cups of the
confectioners' sugar with the egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture
will hold a soft peak. Beat in the remaining sugar, and beat the icing
until it will hold a stiff peak. Transfer two cups of the icing to a pastry
bag fitted with a decorative tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops
and sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula, and pipe the icing in the
pastry bag decoratively onto the cakes. Arrange the drages on the cakes.
Makes two cakes.