With the holidays approaching, I thought I would share this recipe from my grandmother (who would be well over 100 yrs old if she were still alive). It is a heavy, moist cake that keeps well, freezes beautifully and is a good substitute for traditional "Fruit Cake" during the holidays.

Cream butter and sugar well. Beat egg yolks until lemon colored and add to creamed mixture. Add buttermilk and grated orange peel and mix well. Flour dates and pecans with 1 cup of the flour. Mix remaining flour with other dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold gently into batter. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan and bake at 400 degrees for one hour and fifteen minutes (or until toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean). Remove from oven, invert on plate and glaze while hot with a mixture of 3 cups granualted sugar, 0.75 cups orange juice and 3 Tbsp grated orange peel. This will form a sugar "crust" on the cake.