Fruitcake!

On Christmas Eve, I carefully unwrapped the moist brown paper covering one of two loaves of fruitcake and cut a few slices.  Fruitcake is like that; it’s rich, you only want a slice at the time.  This is my first ever fruitcake and it had spent the previous two weeks soaking up bourbon.  Since then, the first loaf is gone and I’m into the second one.  I shouldn’t say I am into it, because I’ve limited myself to a slice a day and most of the first loaf was enjoyed by others.  I’m trying my best to redeem fruitcake’s status from primarily serving as the blunt of jokes. 

The cake is good, but when I do it again, I’m going to dramatically increase the amount of nuts.  Here is my recipe:

Fruit mixture with buttered pans

Mix in a big bowl:  ½ cup of red cherries (cut in half), ½ cup of green cherries (cut in half) Cup of diced pineapple, 2 cups of Old English fruit and peel mix, cup of chopped pecans, cup of currants, cup of raisins, cut of chopped dates, juice and pulp from 8 citrons, 2 teaspoons of grated orange peel.  Add ½ cup of thawing orange juice frozen concentrate, and ½ cup of bourbon (I used Jim Beam).  Let it sit for a few hours to soak up the bourbon.

Butter the bottom and sides of two standard bread pans, then line with paper and butter the paper.

Mixing flour and fruit mixture

 

Shift together: 3 ½ cups of flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon cloves, ½ teaspoon of all spice, then mix in teaspoon baking powder and a dash of salt. Set aside.

Separate five eggs.  Beat the egg yokes.  Set aside the egg whites.

This step is best done with a stand mixer: Put 1 ½ cups of butter (room temperature) in a large mixing bowl and cream, gradually adding 2 cups of brown sugar. Then add the egg yokes and gradually add flour mixture until all is mixed in with the butter and sugar.  Then add ½ cup of molasses.  Next, stir in the fruit mixture.   Set aside.

Fruitcake soaking up bourbon

Beat the egg whites till they form stiff peaks.  Fold egg whites into the dough and mix thoroughly, then spoon into two bread pans.  Cover with cloth and let it sit over night.

Heat oven to 250 degrees.  Bake bread for an hour, then cover the pans with paper and bake another 3.5 hours (toothpick should come out clean).  Let bread cool in pans, and then remove.  Wrap bread with paper that’s been soaked in bourbon.  Place bread in closed but not sealed container (I used a large plastic cake container) and add bourbon to the paper every few days.  Let is age for 2 weeks, then enjoy.

Have you ever had good fruitcake?  If not, you don't know what you're missing but I'd still like to hear your favorite fruitcake joke?