Gumdrop Cake

I've been making this cake for about 35 years. It's easy to make and better than fruitcake. It's colorful and flavorful. If you use the big gumdrops cut them in half. If you use the little gumdrops, no cutting required. You can use the orange slices instead of gumdrops and have only one flavor, but cut them up first. It's easiest to cut the gumdrops using your kitchen shears.

Cream together:
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
Add:
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 1 TBS hot water
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups applesauce
1 lb raisins
½ lb dates
1 ½ lb gumdrops (no licorice)
1 cup nuts
4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cloves
½ tsp nutmeg
Mix well. It will be thick.
Pour into greased loaf pans.

Bake at 275 degrees for 2 hours for a regular loaf pan. If using small loaf pans, cook about 1 hour to an hour and a half. Until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I line the pans with brown paper sacks. (grocery bags, cut up) I also keep a pan of water in the oven while baking to keep the cakes moist.

(Not a typo. It’s 275 degrees.)