Emily Dickinson's Black Cake

The time has come, once again, to bake Emily Dickinson's black cake. This is a brandy-fortified currant cake, similar to more typical fruit cakes except that it doesn't have any red and green maraschino cherries. It's beautiful, moist, and delicious and is good for mailing to relatives as well as for quenching unruly children who refuse to go to bed on Christmas Eve.

My mother-in-law used to be the curator of Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst (and someday I can chat about what it was like to sleep in the room next to the white dress and to eat Christmas breakfast while tourists pressed their noses against the kitchen window to see us in our pajamas), and she reworked Em's recipe for giants into one that is more manageable for modern stoves and appetites. In turn, I've also made some changes to the fruit types and quantities. But that's the story of poetry and cookery: somebody always comes along and messes with tradition.

If you want a copy of this recipe, let me know. I'll be glad to share it.