People must be expecting to have something to celebrate after Tuesday. I've had a number of requests for something special to fix for Election Day—OK, just three, but in my world, given the infinite number of recipes that could be requested, three is a trend.

A good suggestion came from the Culinary Institute of America, along with a bit of Election Day history.

It used to be that voters had to travel great distances to polling places—and so they were often rewarded upon arrival with a slice from a substantial, 10-pound cake.

The Election Day Cake was a fruitcake made with yeast and whole wheat, appearing in culinary records as early as 1771 in Connecticut. This version, developed by the CIA for modern times, is a bundt cake that includes dried fruit soaked in (American) whisky (and doesn't weigh 10 pounds).

Don't expect a sweet treat. The whole wheat keeps it conservative in that manner. It would be good with coffee, or a good-sized scoop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Election Day Cake

1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup American whisky
1-1/2 cups dried fruit (cranberries, golden raisins and blueberries)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 package (3/4 ounce) rapid-rise yeast
1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, sifted
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) softened unsalted butter, cut in cubes
3 eggs
1 cup powdered sugar

Combine 1/2 cup sugar with hot water. Stir to dissolve. Add whisky; stir in dried fruit. Set aside.

Combine water and milk; heat to 120 degrees.

Combine yeast with 1 cup whole-wheat flour; add milk mixture. Sprinkle remaining whole-wheat flour on top. Set aside for 30 minutes to rise slightly.

Lightly spray and flour an 8-inch tube pan.

Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Drain fruit mixture; reserving syrup for glaze.

Beat butter and remaining 1 cup sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time. With mixer on low, add the sponge (flour and yeast mixture); mix until fully combined. Add remaining sifted dry ingredients. Stir in drained fruit. Pour into pan, cover and set in a warm area to rise, up to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 45 to 60 minutes.

To prepare glaze: Combine powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of reserved syrup from dried fruit. Stir until smooth.

Let cake cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan onto wire rack to cool completely. Brush with reserved syrup, and top with glaze.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Correction

Last week's recipe for Haupia Halo Halo from the Pineapple Room contained an error in the amount of sugar used in the tapioca portion of the multipart formula. Thanks to the alert readers who caught the mistake. See Page D5 for the new and improved recipe.

Correction

In last Wednesday's “;By Request”; column, the recipe for Haupia Tapioca Halo Halo from the Pineapple Room contained an error in the amount of sugar listed for the Coconut Tapioca portion of the recipe.

The corrected recipe follows.

The full recipe included five separate components. Find it here.

Coconut Tapioca

6-1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar, divided
1 cup tapioca pearls
2 cups coconut milk

Bring water and 2 cups sugar to boil. Add tapioca pearls. Boil until pearls are almost translucent. Remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Drain; discard liquid.

Meanwhile, bring coconut milk and remaining 1 cup sugar to boil. Add pearls to mixture and remove from heat. Cool and stir until the pearls and liquid are evenly mixed. Chill.