BRAZIL-NUT DATE CAKE

BRAZIL-NUT DATE CAKE

3 Cups whole Brazil Nuts (1 pound shelled or 2 pounds unshelled)
1 pound whole dates, pitted
1 cup whole maraschino cherries, drained
3/4 cup sifted flour
3/4 cup cugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
To shell the nuts easily, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and boil 3 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water, then drain again.Crack and remove whole nut.
DIRECTIONS: Put whole nuts, dates, and cherries into a large mixing bowl.Sift over this the dry ingredients. Mix well until coated. Beat eggs
until foamy, add vanilla and stir into fruit mixture. Turn into a greased and waxed paper lined pan (9 1/2 X 5 1/2 X 2 1/2). Spread evenly. The pan will be full. Bake in slow oven (300 degrees) for 1 hour and 45 minutes.The cake must be entirely cool before cutting. It will keep for a long time if you can keep the fingers out of it. Wrap and store as with any fruit
cake.
Note: To store a fruitcake, the way I remember is to take some clean rags,soak them in wine, and wrap the cake.This is then wrapped in aluminum foil, and the whole thing put into a plastic bag. A fruitcake stored this way will last several years.