Now that fall is here and the weather is getting cooler (well actually here in Las Vegas the temp is a warm 107 today) its time to start thinking about the wonderful holiday treat FRUITCAKE. You know, the rich, dark, boozy, dried and candied fruity cake that everyone has a cruel joke about.
I like to make my annual batch of these delicious cakes to send out to my dearest friends (they wouldn’t lie now and only say they like them, would they?) and enjoy knowing that I’ve continued the rich tradition of baked door stops.
First of all, welcome to the SDMB! Looking forward to meeting you at the next Vegasdopefest!
I love fruitcakes.
My grandmother, back when I lived in Illinois, used to give us one for Christmas every year…they were moist, with cherries and nuts and all sorts of good stuff…think bundt cake with additives.
Granted, one sliver was enough to make your gut explode, but hey…that was what Christmas was all about, wasn’t it?
I live near Eastern and Silverado…let me know where I can go to pick up one of your originals…will trade for some original German Run Balls.
However, I was in the pool today, and it is a tad warm to be thinking about such things right now…how about we try this in…I donno…maybe DECEMBER!
(Do you have your airconditioner on high, or what?)
I love fruitcake! My family uses a recipe that came out of a newspaper in Buffalo New York about 60 years ago. My Dad and his mom lived there while Dad was in high school. The recipe is for a big batcch, so we wrap and freeze the extras.
Wash currants and rub gently in clean towel to remove the little stems. Mix together the fruits and nuts. Mix salt, baking powder, spices, and sift half over fruit mixture. Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs which have been well beaten. Mix rest of spices with flour and add flour to eggs and sugar. Add juice to this and then pour over fruit and nut mixture. Mix well, this is a big batch of fruitcake! Pour into well buttered pan until 3/4 full. Bake at 300 degrees Farenheit for 1-1/2 hour, then at 275 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
The baking time is approximate actually. If you bake some in little pans it will take less time. We don’t generally bake in anything larger than a 9*5 inch loaf pan.
It’s almost fruitcake time here, and I’m getting ready to bake my annual 120 loaves. Lots for gifts, some for entertaining. I also bake a rather impressive triple batch in a LONG loaf pan. Makes a great presentation, covered in white fondant and decorated with holly, either real or icing look-alikes. Two TV episodes about fruitcake that stick in my mind are the Truman Capote novella entitled “Fruitcake Weather”[?] and one from the series “All Creatures Great and Small.” Both very positive on the aspects of fruitcake, unfortunately not enough to disspell all the nasty jokes and rumors. The recipe is my Mom’s, so I don’t give it out. Some things are meant to be kept secret. If there’s ever a fruitcake contest though, I may just enter. Happy holidays.[wish there was a Christmas smiley to put here]
With me, fruitcake was a classic “Green Eggs and Ham” situation. I had seen them for years and thought they looked inedible. Then, once I was at an aunt-and-uncle’s house around holiday time, and my aunt offered me some fruitcake. I thought I’d try it, and I did actually like it.
I’d never buy any for myself, but I never buy any kind of cake or pie. But if someone gave me some, I’d definitly eat it.
There is no other than the fruitcake from the Colin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas, it is the epitome of the fruitcaking art, and they ship anywhere (I am sure that they are on the 'net, I am just too lazy to look them up).
I even like the comparatively insipid fruitcake you find in grocery stores around Christmas. I don’t know anyone who actually makes fruitcake, but if I did, I’d be delighted to receive some.
I don’t eat supermarket ones. Mine is made 3 months in advance, and contains a whole bottle of brandy, a cup in the cake and adribs more poured over it every week until Xmas. By the time you eat it, it’s matured and thoroughly well soaked, and so will you be if you eat it. Mmmmmm, alcoholic cake. Dark, moist, rich.