Icebox Fruitcake

Ever get tired of getting (or giving) fruitcake at Christmas? Try this variation. It's called an icebox fruitcake because you must keep it refrigerated. Or, as older generations would say, "in the icebox." Exactly what an icebox is, we'll talk about another time. Maybe.

Anyway, here's a recipe you might enjoy. Seriously.

Ingredients:

• One box (approx. 12 oz.) of vanilla wafers.
• One pound of candied cherries (red and/or green)
• One can (approx. 14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk. (Not evaporated milk; there is a difference. Don't find out the hard way.)
• One cup raisins.
• One cup coconut.
• One cup chopped pecans.

Directions:

1. Finely crush vanilla wafers. (A food processor works great for this.)
2. In a large bowl, combine the crushed vanilla wafers and sweetened condensed milk.
3. Hand mix until wafers are moistened.
4. Add the remaining ingredients.
5. Mix well by hand.
6. Press mixture into a buttered tube pan.
7. Cover
8. Refrigerate overnight, until firm.

Keep it refrigerated, if it lasts that long.

An Icebox Fruitcake recipe

For those raised up in the South, you're probably familiar with what an "icebox" is. If you're not ... well ... it's an early refrigerator. Ran on ice. If you can call it running. It actually just sat there. An icebox was an insulated chest or cabinet that contained ice, and kept the contents cool. You'd restock it when the ice melted down. You've probably seen one. Ever watch The Honeymooners? The Kramdens had one. After refrigeration came affordable for many folks, the phrase "icebox" stayed around for a while. My grandmother (father's mother) often called her refrigerator "the icebox" until she died (a decade and a half ago). So, now that you know what an "icebox" is -- if you didn't already know, that is -- you'll understand better the name "icebox fruitcake." It's fruitcake insofar as it's very similar in appearance to traditional fruitcake. But it won't keep. Traditional fruitcake can be kept around 40 years or more. Or so it seems. Not so with icebox fruitcake. You need to eat it, or, like your --or my -- grandmother might say, "put it in the icebox." The Wife's grandmother actually is the source of this icebox fruitcake recipe. I don't like fruitcake. I like this. Ingredients

• One box (approx. 12 oz.) of vanilla wafers
• One pound of candied cherries (red and/or green)
• One can (approx. 14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (do not use evaporated milk)
• One cup raisins
• One cup coconut
• One cup pecans, chopped.

Directions

1. Finely crush vanilla wafers.
2. In a large bowl, add the vanilla wafers and sweetened condensed milk.
3. Hand mix until wafers are moistened.
4. Add remaining ingredients.
5. Mix well by hand.
6. Press mixture into a buttered tube pan. Alternately, press into cupcake pan for individual-size cakes.
7. Cover.
8. Refrigerate overnight, or until firm.

It will spoil if you don't refrigerate it (or "put it in the icebox"). Keep in mind, there are many varieties of icebox fruitcake recipes. This is but one. Feel free to expand on it in any way (graham crackers, adult beverages, etc.). If you've never experienced an icebox fruitcake, you don't know what you're missing. If this recipe turns out to be your first ... well, you're welcome.