Step 1

Marinate a mountain of dried fruit in rum and cherry brandy for 1-3 days, stirring occasionally (or as long as you can stand to wait). They’ll plump up and, if you sneak a few nibbles (please do!), you’ll find they taste like cherry rum smiles.

Step 2

Grease and line two 8 inch pans with a double layer of parchment paper. Blend the fruit mixture with almonds until chunky (makes about 5 cups of mixture) You can add more brandy if you need to loosen it up a bunch, but I just pushed it around with a spoon every few pulses until I reached desired consistency). Set aside.

Step 3

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl: flour, baking powder, and a heavenly dose of cinnamon. Here’s where the flavor really starts to take shape.

Step 4

Cream the softened butter and brown sugar together in a standing mixer, then add eggs one at a time, scraping sides as needed. Beat in zest, vanilla, bitters, and molasses.

Step 5

Mix together the butter mixture with the flour mixture. Then add the yummy intoxicated fruit.

Step 6

Pour into prepared baking pans and Bake at 250F for an hour, then reduce to 225F for another 2-3 hours.

Step 7

The cakes won’t rise much, as you can see (but the house will smell like an autumn orchard). Now… some people like to pour on extra rum at this point (after poking holes in the top), but I don’t so that Ava can eat it.