Spokane’s Ina Klakken recently called The Spokesman-Review Food section looking for a decades-old recipe for individual-sized fruitcakes.

The original seems to have run in the mid-1960s. In early 2000, editorial assistant Tina Carey tracked it down for the old "Cook’s Notebook” feature for another reader from Pendleton, Oregon. It’s being reprinted here in case any other local fruitcake fans have been looking for it.

Maybe the recipe will whet your appetite for Wednesday's fun with fruitcake extravaganza. The next Spokesman-Review Food section is all about the Christmas classic. Look for "Let Them Eat Fruitcake" on Dec. 24.

Fruitcake Bonbons

From Mildred Tremblay of Coeur d'Alene

½ cup molasses

¼ cup water

1 (15-ounce) package raisins

1 (1-pound) jar mixed candied fruit

½ cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted flour

¼ teaspoon soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon cloves

¼ cup orange juice or brandy

½ cup chopped nuts

Blend molasses and water in a large deep saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Add raisins and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in candied fruit. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in eggs, one at a time. Sift flour, soda and spices; add to creamed mixture alternately with orange juice. Add molasses-fruit mixture and nuts; stir to combine. Line muffin tins with bonbon or cupcake papers. Spoon in fruitcake mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes or until done. Cool before storing.

Yield: About 5 dozen bonbon-size cakes, or 2 dozen cupcake-size cakes.

Nutrition information per bonbon: 90 calories, 2 grams fat (2 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 17 grams carbohydrate, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 1 gram dietary fiber, 37 milligrams sodium.

---

---