Nutty As a Fruitcake

by Mary Daheim

Prepare fruit as directed.

  Sift flour with other dry ingredients, except sugar.

  Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy.

  Beat eggs and add to the sugar mixture.

  Add dry ingredients mixed with fruit, alternating with

  fruit juice, beating until smooth after each addition.

  Add liquor and mix well.

  Line 6 loaf pans with 2-3 thickness of heavy brown paper,

  greasing top layer well. Pour batter into pans, making sure

  it’s spread evenly into corners.

  Bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

  Cool in pans, and when cool, turn out and remove paper.

  Wrap in cheesecloth which has been dipped in whiskey or

  brandy. Wrap in aluminum foil and store in box

  or crock with tight cover.

  Let stand for a least four weeks. Every seven days, open foil

  and add a bit more liquor to individual loaves.

  If you add enough, no one will notice that

  there aren’t any nuts.

  If you add too much, no one will notice anything.

  About the Author

  Seattle native MARY DAHEIM began telling stories with pictures when she was four. Since she could neither read nor write, and her artistic talent was questionable, her narratives were sometimes hard to follow. By second grade, she had learned how to string together both subjects and predicates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. A former newspaper reporter and public relations consultant, Daheim’s first of seven historical romances was published in 1983. In addition to Avon Books’ Bed-and-Breakfast series featuring Judith McMonigle Flynn, Daheim also pens the Alpine mysteries for Ballantine. She is married to David Daheim, a retired college instructor, and has three daughters—Barbara, Katherine and Magdalen.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries by

  Mary Daheim

  from Avon Books

  FOWL PREY

  JUST DESSERTS

  HOLY TERRORS

  DUNE TO DEATH

  BANTAM OF THE OPERA

  A FIT OF TEMPERA

  MAJOR VICES

  MURDER, MY SUITE

  AUNTIE MAYHEM

  NUTTY AS A FRUITCAKE

  SEPTEMBER MOURN

  WED AND BURIED

  LEGS BENEDICT

  CREEPS SUZETTE

  A STREETCAR NAMED EXPIRE

  SUTURE SELF

  And in Hardcover

  SILVER SCREAM

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  NUTTY AS A FRUITCATE. Copyright © 2007 by Mary Daheim. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  ePub edition February 2007 ISBN 9780061736469

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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