Fruitcake from King Arthur Flour Company

Each year, I order two complete fruitcake mixes from King Arthur Flour in Vermont. The fruits and nuts and rich yellow fruitcake mix are better than anything I can make myself. My mother and I gather in my country kitchen to mix up the batter, add the fruit, and bake small and large loaves until the house is filled with the fruit and maple aroma.

Here is a picture of the six small loaves for my mother and her friends. When this picture was taken, two large loaves were baking in the oven, and later cooled on the sideboard overnight. These loaves will be thinly sliced and arranged on a silver platter on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.