Beginner'S Fruit And Nut Cake

1. 1

   ["The day before you plan to bake, place the dried fruits and raisins in a colander or large strainer and rinse well under hot running tap water to remove any preservatives from the fruit. Shake off as much water as possible, and place the fruits in a very large bowl. Add the nuts, the juice and the zest to the fruit mixture. Stir until very well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.", "When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line three 8""x4"" loaf pans with parchment.", "Place butter in a large mixing bowl and allow it to come to room temperature. Beat in the granulated sugar, molasses (or the dark brown sugar) and vanilla until the mixture becomes fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.", "In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Add it to the butter-sugar-egg mixture and stir well by hand. Remove the fruit-nut mixture from the refrigerator, add it to the batter and blend thoroughly, being careful not to overmix.", "Divide batter evenly into pans. Arrange red and green cherries and/or nuts decoratively on top of batter, if desired. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 2 hours, checking for doneness after 1 hour and 30 minutes. The cakes will show cracks and will have risen slightly; a skewer inserted through a crack should come out fairly clean, with no wet dough clinging to it. Let cakes cool about 20 minutes in pans, then remove from pans and allow to cool completely before removing parchment and wrapping cakes very tightly in plastic. Store at a cool room temperature."]

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.