Soviet Fruit Cake

Since the return of cooler weather again permits the use of ovens, let’s talk about cakes.

This recipe is from my mother’s recipe notebook, which is mostly filled with her precise handwriting, very short instructions, and lists of ingredients. Really. Apparently it should be patently clear to anyone reading such cursory notes how the mixing process should go down.

This recipe, however, is scribbled in the notebook in my own studious, eight-year-old handwriting. And the instructions are very detailed, as I copied them from some magazine – probably a copy of Rabotnitsa or Krestyanka, as there wasn’t anything else back in 1985. The arrival of the German fashion/homemaking magazine Burda Moden (and its Russian-language edition) was still two years off.