Gram's Poor Man's Cake (eggless & Milkless)

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cold black coffee
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (your choice) or 1 teaspoon brandy extract (your choice) or 1 teaspoon cherry extract (your choice)
• raisins or currants or pineapple or cherries or nuts or candied peel or cranberries or diced apple

Recipe

• 1 bring to a boil the fruit, nuts, extract, salt, sugar, shortening and coffee.
• 2 continue to cook until raisins swell and liquid becomes syrupy; cool completely.
• 3 stir together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• 4 add to fruit mixture and combine thoroughly.
• 5 pour into a greased 10-inch tube pan and bake at 325° about an hour (if heavy with fruit). check with tester to be sure cake is done.
• 6 remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.
• 7 at this point i soak a clean piece of cheesecloth in liquor; brandy, rum, even wine.
• 8 wrap the cake with the cloth and in foil--store in cold place--check often, resoak as needed.
• 9 there are no exact measurements for the fruit in this recipe--the original recipe stated "fruits, nuts & peels-whatever you have on hand".
• 10 this was done because it was wartime and things for fancy baking were not always available.