Recently
I wrote about dragging out the Christmas fruitcake and how good it was even after several months. People began to ask for the recipe. So I
decided to write it out with all the cooking info and then I failed to save the
document. Then every day I thought I would replicate it and every day I
failed to post because I was so sure I was going to post the fruitcake
recipe.
Now it is
April 15 -- and yes, as it has so often this year, it is SNOWING here in West
Virginia. I am not in the garden, so I finally got the info
together.
You will
find a very long set of cooking cliff notes. Since fruitcake can be
daunting and time consuming, we wanted to give you a narrative of exactly what
you would be going through. It is not something one just jumps up from
the couch and says, "Let's make some fruitcake." After
the tedious notes, you will be prepared for the pared down recipe, which should
be easy to follow.
Fruitcake Cliff Notes:
First is “garbage in; garbage
out.” Use really good fruit. We buy a lot of our candied peel from King
Arthur. They also have a “fruitcake mix”
but it includes dates and we don’t do dates.
We do not do nuts, which is why this is a FRUITcake. We like a mix of raisins. Regular raisin, sultanas, currants, some
companies have “mixed raisins” which work nicely.
Now, you must look at baking a
fruitcake the same way you look at barbecue: “Low and Slow.” If your oven is set above 300 degrees for a
fruitcake, you are cooking it way too hot and it will be dry. This fruitcake cooks at 250 degrees for 3 ½
hours.
We have a soft spot for quatre
épices. There are many slightly different blends but it is basically
a mix of ground white pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Some recipes use
cinnamon in place of ginger. We keep of large jar of cinq
épices. Equal measures of ground spice including white pepper,
nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, and a half-measure of cloves, as they can be
overwhelming. So 2 tablespoon each of ground white pepper, ground nutmeg,
ground ginger, ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of ground cloves.
Whenever we see a tedious recipe that calls for a teaspoon of cinnamon and a
teaspoon of nutmeg or ¼ teaspoon of ginger and ½ cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon of
allspice we just add it up and add in our spice mix. DO THIS it is a
great idea.
OK, lets make fruitcake.
You want to soak your fruit in a nice
alcohol. Soak it in something you drink
– we are partial to Jack Daniel’s, but rum works. The late, great Edna Lewis used a little red
wine. Soak the fruit overnight on the
counter. If something comes up and you
can’t proceed, put the fruit in the refrigerator and let it set for two days or
a week, don’t sweat it.
You need to spend time lining your
pan. For the sake of simplicity, we are proceeding
with the idea that you are baking the fruitcake in an 11 X 4 tube pan. (We almost never bake it in this type of
pan. We usually make smaller sizes to
give away. A smaller pan means less oven
time, so make adjustments. You will end
up with about 12 cups of fruitcake batter.
Four loaf pans will cook in about 2 hours and 15 minutes) Since the
cooking time runs over 2 hours, the cake needs to be protected. We line all our pans with brown paper, though
parchment will work, too. A light
coating of butter or PAM will help hold the paper in place and let the cake
release from the paper. After the first 90 minutes of baking, you will want to
open the oven and use an extra piece of brown paper to lie across the top of
the pan to further protect the cake. If you are using a thin-walled pan,
like an aluminum angle food cake pan, you will want to add an additional layer
of paper to the outside of the pan. (See below.) Personally, we think
lining the pans is the hardest part of fruitcakes.
Now it is basically cake making. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and
give it a quick whisk to incorporate the spice, salt, baking powder and
flour. Cream the butter and brown
sugar; add the egg yolks, a little at a time, and finally the syrup. Start incorporating the flour mixture a
little at a time. When all the flour is
added you are going to end up with more of a cookie dough texture than a
traditional batter. At this point, you
will need to proceed by hand, as the mixture is too thick and too bulky to
remain in the mixer. You will also need
to whip the egg whites, so unless you have two bowls, you will need the
mixer. Add the macerated fruits with
their liquid to the batter and mix well.
Finally, fold in the egg whites.
The cookie-like dough will now be a thick batter. Add carefully to your lined pan and bake.
Once the cake is done, remove it from
the oven and let it cool in the pan. When it is cool, you will want to
carefully remove the paper. Now you will
need to “doctor” the cake. You will need
your alcohol of choice, cheesecloth, cling film, and aluminum foil. In a small bowl, add about ½ cup of alcohol
and the cheesecloth. Soak the
cheesecloth, then wrap the cooled cake in the soaked cloth. Wrap the cake and cheesecloth in the cling
film; finally wrap the cake tightly in foil.
Every couple of weeks, you will want to unwrap the cake and re-soak the
cheesecloth. Some people swear it last
for years!
Fruitcake
4 cups candied peel
3 cups of mixed raisins and sultanas
1 cup bourbon or rum + extra for soaking
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Lucinda’s cinq épices
2 1/2 unsalted butter, room temperature
+ extra to butter pans
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sorghum syrup (or dark karo, or molasses, or honey)
5 large room-temperature eggs, separated
brown paper, parchment, cheesecloth,
cling film, foil
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix the peel, raisins, and sultanas with the bourbon and
let macerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
3. Line your pans with buttered brown paper or parchment. You will have about 12 cups of
fruitcake. A large 10 X 4-inch tube pan
will make one cake. The smaller the pan, the faster they cook. (If using several small, individual loaves,
cover after 1 hour, check after 2 ½ hours of baking.)
4. Into a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
5. In a stand mixer, cream the butter with the brown sugar until light and
fluffy. Separate the eggs, reserving the egg whites. Lightly beat the 5 yolks and add to the
mixture, beat until incorporated. Add
the sorghum and beat until incorporated.
Add the flour, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. (At this point, the mixture will be more
cookie dough than cake batter. You will probably have to remove the mixing bowl
and continue on by hand.) Stir in the
fruit mixture with the all the macerating alcohol and combine well.
6. In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until they hold stiff
peaks. Fold the whites gently but thoroughly into the batter. Spoon the batter carefully
into the prepared pan(s).
7. Bake the fruitcake on the middle of the oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove and cover it with a piece of brown paper
or parchment but NO aluminum foil. Continue baking for about 2 hours.
8. Remove from the oven, and place the cake in the pan on a rack to cool. When completely cool, remove the cake from
the pan and carefully remove the paper.
Cut a square of parchment, large enough to wrap the cake. Place the cheesecloth in a small bowl and add
enough bourbon to soak the cheesecloth.
You want it to be damp, not dripping.
Wrap the cake in the damp cheesecloth.
Wrap the cake again in cling film.
Wrap it the final time in aluminum foil.
Let it sit for at least two week.
Every two weeks you will want to unwrap the cake, re-soak the
cheesecloth and re-wrap the cake. (If
you have a cake tin with a tight fitting lid, you can simply wrap the cake in
the damp cheesecloth and keep it in the tin, feeding it every couple of weeks.)
Now you are ready for next
Christmas. Send pictures!
