Boston Brown Bread

This recipe looks intriguing, and I plan to give it a try soon.

6 (14-16 oz) empty clean vegetable or fruit cans
Cooking spray
1 lb chopped dates
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups boiling water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
4 cups sifted flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 325. Coat insides of cans with cooking spray.
Combine dates and baking soda in a bowl. Pour in boiling water, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Combine sugar, shortening, and eggs in large bowl. Using a mixer, beat at medium high speed until creamy. Add date mixture and flour and stir until well blended. Add nuts and raisins, mix well.

Fill cans about 2/3 full with batter. Bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool cans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from cans and cool on wire rack. Makes 6 loaves, 6 servings each.