Use your favorite dried fruits, plus candied cherries and nuts, in this light-gold, mildly flavored cake. Or use the fruit/nut combination suggested below.
To prepare the fruit: Combine the dried fruit (except for the candied cherries) with liquid in a bowl. Cover and let the mixture steep overnight.
Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease the loaf pans of your choice: two 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pans OR six 7" paper bakeable loaf pan.
To prepare the cake: In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, corn syrup, baking powder, salt, and flavors.
Beat in the eggs one at time.
Stir in the flour alternately with the milk.
Add the undrained fruit, the candied cherries, and the nuts.
Spoon the batter into the lightly greased baking pans, filling them three-quarters full.
Bake the cakes for 50 to 80 minutes, depending on the size of the pans; smaller pans will bake for the shorter length of time. When done, the cakes will be a light golden brown all over, and a cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven. Brush with brandy or the liquor of your choice while warm.
When completely cooled, wrap well and let rest at least 24 hours (or for up to a month, brushing with liquor or flavored syrup weekly), before serving.
To bake this cake in a Bundt pan: Grease a 9- to 12-cup capacity (9" to 10 1/2") Bundt pan and prepare the cake batter according to the recipe instructions. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, filling it to 1" of the rim of the pan. Bake the cake in a preheated 300°F oven for 70 to 80 minutes, depending on its capacity. Remove the cake from the oven, wait 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a spatula and turn it out onto a rack. Brush the warm cake all over with simple syrup, brandy, or the liquor of your choice, if desired.
NOTE: This recipe yields about 10 1/2 cups of batter, so if you're baking in a smaller Bundt pan you'll have leftover batter to bake in a pan of your choice. We like to use a standard muffin pan or our mini loaf paper baking pans, which can be baked alongside your Bundt for 30 to 40 minutes.
To make this cake into bars: Lightly grease two 9" x 13" pans; if you don't have two pans, you'll need to bake in batches. For extra insurance against sticking, line the pans with parchment and grease the parchment. Spoon the batter into the pans and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, or showing some moist crumbs. Remove the bars from the oven and cool completely before cutting and serving.
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