A recipe is the last thing you'd expect to find on one of my blogs, but something got me to thinking about eatables I used to make (I never cook or bake these days), and I remembered Bishop's Cake, and I thought, gee, if I'm never going to make it again, I ought to share this on my blog so other people could enjoy it this holiday season and in the future.
It isn't a recipe that comes from my grandmother or farther back in family history. In fact, I got it from somebody I worked with in the 1960's. But then that's ancient history for a lot of the people reading this! It's a fruit cake, but don't let that name put you off! It's not the type of fruitcake that you would ever take to the Manitou Springs Fruitcake Toss after Christmas and chuck down the field with a catapult! It's scrumptious! It has none of the coarse, sour, bitter stuff like candied citrus peel or citron or even candied pineapple. And I don't know why it's called Bishop's Cake -- that's just the name my friend gave it. It's definitely fit for a bishop, or a king!
Bishop's Cake
Mix together:
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
Add:
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup candied cherries (as I recall, I left them whole. You could use red and green mixed for extra color)
1 cup chopped dates (add gradually for even mixing. I used the pre-chopped, sugared date bits because I'm lazy. They are a little drier than the whole dates.)
Combine and sift over this mixture:
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix well. Add a small amount of water if the batter is too dry to hold togther.
Line a loaf pan (I forget the dimensions -- 4x8? 5x9? -- just the regular size) with wax paper and spoon the batter into it. I always decorated it with a row of walnut halves down the middle and rows of cherry halves on each side.)
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Cool in pan, then lift out with the waxed paper and peel it off the bottom. The cake is compact, so you don't have to worry about having it fall apart.
Ooh, it's delicious -- my mouth is watering! I mean, what could go wrong with the combination of chocolate chips, cherries, nuts, and dates?
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! And happy holiday eating!
