grandma's fruit cake

My grandmother always made the moistest, most delicious fruit cake. I was delighted to find, when I got my hands on the recipe, that it's incredibly simple. I don't believe in keeping great family recipes under lock and key, so here it is:

1/2 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla (or other liquor)
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Cinnamon sugar
Berries, apples, pears, or stone fruit

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar and then add the eggs and vanilla (I often use other booze - the version pictured below has Grand Marnier in it). Toss in the flour and baking powder and blend well. The batter should be pretty thick.

Spread it into a buttered or sprayed pan; 8x8 works, as does a 9" pie plate. This recipe is also good for 12 cupcakes or 24 mini-cupcakes. The batter will probably be spread pretty thin, but don't worry - it rises a lot. Press fruit into the top so the pan is pretty much covers the cake's surface, then sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake 35 - 40 minutes for a pan, 15 - 20 for cupcakes. Don't bother with a toothpick test - the fruit keeps the cake too moist for this to work.

Below: Half-strawberries pressed into mini-cupcakes made from this recipe.