Blend Crisco and sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Gradually stir in flour sifted with baking powder, salt and spices.  Add grape juice mixture.  Add fruit and nuts, mixing well.  Bake in well greased, lightly floured tube or loaf pan at 250 degrees for 3 to 4 hours. Keep a large shallow pan of hot water on rack underneath cake while baking.

Preparation:
Grease an 8X4X2-inch loaf pan. Line bottom and sides of pan with brown paper to prevent  overbrowning; grease paper. In a bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda,  nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Add fruits and peels, raisins, cherries, and nuts; mix well. Beat eggs; stir in sugar, juice, margarine, and molasses till combined. Stir into fruit mixture. Pour batter into pan.

Bake in a 300 oven for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or till a toothpick inserted near the center comes out  clean. (Cover pan loosely with foil after 1 hour of baking to prevent overbrowning.) Cool in pan  on rack. Remove from pan.  Wrap cake in brandy or fruit-juice-moistened cheesecloth.   Overwrap with foil. Store in the refrigerator for 2 to 8 weeks to mellow flavors.  Remoisten cheesecloth about once a week, or as needed. Serves 16.

Microwave directions: Grease a 10-inch fluted tube dish or 2-quart ring mold. Coat with 2  tablespoons crushed graham crackers. Prepare batter as above. Pour batter into dish or mold. Micro-cook, uncovered, on 50% power (medium) for 15 minutes, giving dish a quarter-turn every 5 minutes. If not done, cook on 100% power (high) for 30 seconds to 2 minutes more or till
surface is nearly dry.

Light Fruitcake: Prepare as above, except omit nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Substitute light corn syrup for the molasses. Add 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel and 1 tablespoon lemon juice with the corn syrup.

A fruitcake in the best tradition: lots of fresh and dried
fruit held together with a minimal amount of cake batter.

4 cups purchased chopped mixed dried fruit (about 1 pound)
2 1/4 cups raisins
1 large green apple, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/3 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
1 3/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Generously butter 10-cup Bundt pan; dust pan with flour. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Mix in 1/3 cup rum. Let stand at room
temperature until liquids are almost absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine flour, almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a
time, beating well after each addition. Blend in fruit mixture. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out dry, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack and cool.
Stir corn syrup and remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons rum in heavy small saucepan over low heat until warm. Brush warm glaze twice over entire cake. Wrap cake in heavy-duty foil
and let mellow 1 day at room temperature. Refrigerate.
(Cake can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Store in refrigerator.)
12 Servings

2 cups mixed diced glaceed fruits
2 cups golden raisins
1 cup dark raisins
1 1/2 cups dried currants
1/2 cup halved glaceed red cherries plus additional for garnish
1/2 cup chopped glaceed angelica (available at specialty
foods shops)plus additional for garnish
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 cup blanched almonds, toasted lightly, cooled, and ground fine in an electric spiced grinder
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup apricot jam

In a large bowl combine well the glaceed fruits, the raisins, the currants, 1/2 cup of the cherries, 1/2 cup of the angelica, and 3/4 cup of the rum and let the fruits macerate, covered, overnight.
Line the bottom of a well-buttered 9 1/2-inch springform pan with a round of wax paper and butter the paper. Into a small bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the nutmeg, and the ginger. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Drain the fruit mixture in a sieve set over the batter and beat the juices into the batter. Pat the fruits dry between several thicknesses of paper towels and in a bowl toss them with 1/3 cup of the flour mixture. Stir in the remaining flour mixture into the batter, one fourth at a time, stir in the fruit mixture, the ground almonds, and the walnuts, stirring until the mixture is just combined, and turn the batter out into the prepared pan.
Put 2 loaf pans, each filled with hot water, in a preheated 300 deg. F. oven and put the springform pan between them.
Bake the cake for 1 hour, brush the top with the remaining egg, beaten lightly, and bake the cake for 1 hour more.
While the cake is baking, in a saucepan melt the apricot jam with the remaining 1 tablespoon rum over moderate heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes, remove the side of the pan, and invert the cake onto the rack. Remove the pan bottom and the wax paper very carefully, invert the cake onto another rack, and let it
cool completely. Arrange the additional cherries and angelica decoratively on the cake, brush the top of the cake with some of the apricot glaze, reserving the
remaining glaze for another use, and store the cake, wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. The cake keeps, covered, for 6 months.

You'll need the following: a cup of water, a cup of sugar, four large brown eggs, two cups of dried  fruit, a teaspoon of salt, a cup of brown sugar, lemon juice, nuts, and a bottle of whiskey.

Sample the whiskey to check for quality.  Very important!

Take a large bowl. Check the whiskey again. To be sure it's the highest quality, pour one level  cup and drink. Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer, beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.  Add one teaspoon of sugar and beat again.

Make sure the whiskey is still okay. Cry another tup. Turn off the mixer. Beat two eggs and add  to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Mix on the tuner. If the fired druit gets stuck in the  beaterers, pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the whiskey to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt.  Or something. Who cares? Partake of the quality whichkey. If it has gone bad, go get a fuller bottle. Now sift the  lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add  one table. Spoon and all. Of sugar or something.   Whatever you can find.

Grease the oven. Turn the cake tin to 350 degrees. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Throw the  bowl out of the window. Check the whiskey. Check the oven and wishkey every 5 doneness for minutes.`