1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
3 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup orange candy slices, thinly sliced
1 cup dates, chopped
2 cup nuts, chopped
½ cup coconut, flaked
1 cup orange juice
2 cups powdered sugar
Cream margarine and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, beating between additions. Combine soda with buttermilk. Add to sugar mixture. Sift flour and salt. Add to sugar mixture. Add orange candy (sliced). dates, nuts, and coconut. Pour into lightly greased and floured tube pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Dissolve orange juice and powdered sugar over heat until dissolved. Leave cake in pan, poke holes in to of cake and pour hot orange juice mixture over hot cake. Leave in pan and put in refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature and remove cake from pan. Slice and serve.
Note: We were always excited about all of the goodies at grandma’s house at Christmas, but one of my dad’s and my most favorite was grandma’s Orange Candy Cake. It became one of our family traditions. My dad was a fan of great food, he would say we were “good kooks” for good cooks. It always made us giggle and smile.