Kentucky Bourbon Cake Recipe

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 lb. pecans (about 5 cups)
1 cup raisins
2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup bourbon
8 tbs. butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, yolks seperated from whites, whites stiffly beaten
candied cherries

Sift together 1 cup of the flour and baking powder. Break 1 lb. of the pecans into pieces with your fingers and combine them with the raisins in a bowl. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of flour into this mixture. Mix well, making sure that the raisins and nuts are thoroughly coated with flour; this flouring will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

Combine the nutmeg and bourbon. Beat the butter until soft, then gradually add the sugar, beating well after addition. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.

Stir in the 1 cup of flour and the spiced bourbon alternately into the egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. With a heavy wooden or metal spoon, stir in the raisin mixture until it is well distributed throughout the batter, scooping up the batter from the bottom of the bowl as you stir. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites into the batter. Turn the batter into a spring-form or tube cake pan that has been buttered and lined with buttered brown paper. Let the cake stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, decorate the top of the cake with the remaining 1/4 lb. of pecans, halved, and the candied cherries. Bake in a preheated 325 degree F. oven for about one and one quarter hours, or until the top of the cake is firm. Do not over bake; the cake should be moist on the side.

Cool the cake in the pan for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan carefully and, holding the cake decorated side up, peel the paper from the bottom and sides. Cool the cake completely on a rack, keeping the decorated side up. Let it stand one day before cutting. Store the cake in an air-tight container.