I have made that alcohol-soaked fruitcake. I used a recipe for light-fruit fruitcake from The Joy of Cooking that called for things like sultanas and apricots instead of the dates and muscat raisins that were in the dark one. It rocked! (actually, the dark one rocks too.)
I also love to make panettone, Italian Christmas bread. The trick is to candy your own citrus peel; under no circumstances should you use that nasty red-and-green gumdrop-esque stuff from the grocery store! This year, I used all tangerine peels. They are unbelievably good! I have used grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, and real citron peels before too; they’re all good.
Incidentally, the candying works a lot better if you add in a box of orange jello.
I made six fruitcakes this year. They’ll all be gone by late March, thin slice by thin slice. Soaked in sherry, with a mix of candied and dried fruit soaked in sherry. And then you soak the whole thing in sherry after it’s baked.
Amazing combination? Fruitcake and very old (say, four to eight year old) Cheddar. Sooooo good.
It’s official! Fruitcake is no longer mundane, but fit for cafe society!
I made some biscotti for a high-class Christmas party a few years ago using almond, almond extract, and chopped candied red & green cherries. They were great.
I have never bothered to make a fruitcake from scratch because it seemed like making a Twinkie - why bother producing your own product whose main quality is its artificiality? But I think it’s about time I did. I can’t resist the idea of wrapping anything in rum or brandy for weeks.
Well, after Armaggedon, it’ll be us with our lemba fruitcake-doorstops fighting off you and the cockroaches and your lightweight date-nut loaves. And we will prevail!
I love fruitcake, and plan to make the recipe from my NYT Cookbook again, since the candied fruit is available in the grocery stores this time of year.
I hate raisins. What’s a good substitute for them, dates?
When I was in college someone gave me a left over fruitcake to take back to the house. Even college students wouldn’t eat it - and they’ll eat practically anything.
How did I get teamed up with the cockroaches? I’m not on their side. The point was it will likely be only fruitcakes and cockroaches left at the end of the world and the fruitcakes may prevail.
Look at craisans last niggt, they are quite expensive. I need some 24 oz and they are packed in snack bags. I am replacing half the raisins with dates.
Wow! I haven’t seen a fruitcake in years. I actually like a good fruitcake and a little eggnog. We’ve just been skimming over the essentials for a few years now. Sorry 'bout that, Santa!
