Beware, this cake is a bit expensive to make, takes a bit of time, and has a shelf life of no more than 2 days. But if you make it right, there is no way it will last 2 days at your house. Having a good stand mixer is a real bonus when making this cake along with several large bowls. 6 eggs - warm to room temp 16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 1 cup) softened butter. 2 cups sugar or splenda 3 1/2 cups cake flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons nutmeg (fresh if you have it) 2 cups burbon divided- no need for the good stuff. 1 cup golden raisins 1 cup craisins (dried cranberry) 1 cup dried cherries 4 cups broken pecans, walnuts or mixed 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 box confection sugar Divide whiskey in half using 1 cup to hydrate the dried fruit in a covered bowl. This can be done the night before. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 10" tube or bundt pan. Cream the butter and sugar together. Separate the warm eggs putting the whites in a separate mixing bowl and adding the yokes one at a time to the creamed butter/sugar beating well as they are added. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Combine cake flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Sift them together onto parchment or waxpaper and add in 3 parts to the butter mixture along with the bourbon. Drain the re-hydrated fruit saving the whiskey left behind. In a separate bowl mix nuts and re-hydrated fruit with the 2/3 cup all-purpose flour. (Doing this keeps the nuts and fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake) Coat them with the flour then stir them into the batter. In another bowl beat the egg whites till they are stiff but still moist. Fold in half the egg whites then drop in the remaining egg whites and fold them just till there are no streaks of white. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 1/4 hour or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake and let rest on cooling rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto serving platter or cake saver. Mix whiskey reserved from the fruit with confection sugar till a smooth pink colored frosting is made. You may need to add a little water or a little more whiskey to get the right consistancy. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
