A minimum of 2 days before you decide to intend to bake the cakes, place prunes, raisins, currants, cherries, citrus peel, candied ginger root, rum, and port inside a large container having a lid. Stir fruit daily.
When prepared to bake the cakes, pre-heat oven to 250 levels. Butter and flour two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pans and 2 8-by-2-inch round cake pans and line with parchment butter parchment and hang aside.
Within the bowl of the mixer or even the jar of the heavy-duty blender, grind walnuts to some coarse meal. Stir ground walnuts in to the fruit mixture until well combined. Employed in batches, transfer almond-fruit mixture towards the bowl of the mixer or jar of the blender and pulse until a chunky paste forms. Transfer paste to some large bowl or perhaps a rimmed baking sheet.
In a tiny bowl, whisk together boiling water and cacao powder until smooth put aside.
Within the bowl of the electric mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar. Scrape lower the edges from the bowl, add vanilla, and beat in eggs, individually. Transfer to some large bowl or stock pot.
Inside a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sodium bicarbonate. Utilizing a spatula, fold flour mixture into butter mixture. Add cacao powder mixture and molasses and fold to mix stir in fruit.
Divide batter evenly between prepared pans and bake until cakes are firm on the top along with a cake tester placed in to the center arrives clean, about 3 hrs. Remove from oven and immediately brush tops of cakes with rum. Let cakes awesome completely.
Invert cooled cakes to unmold and brush with a lot more rum. Wrap cakes in cheesecloth, a clear dish towel, or sturdy sponges, and also in aluminum foil. Let stand at 70 degrees a minimum of three days before serving, and as much as 30 days. Serve cakes dusted with confectioners' sugar or frosted with royal icing.