Christmas holiday fruitcake
This fruitcake in the days in which my mother lived as a child with her parents this was only made during Christmas because the only time you could get walnuts, cherries, and some other ingredients was in the fall of the year.
Christmas Holiday Fruitcake
prep time: 1 HOUR cook time: 1 HOUR total time: 2 HOURS
INGREDIENTS
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup currants, (or prunes snipped into tiny pieces)
1/2 cup each dried cranberries, , blueberries, cherries and apricots (chop the apricots into pieces) or a total of 2 cups dried fruit
zest of one lemon, (Microplaned)
zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger
1 cup gold rum
1 cup granulated sugar
5 oz unsalted butter, (1 1/4 sticks)
1 cup unfiltered apple juice, (orange juice works well here too)
4 whole cloves, , ground
6 allspice berries, , ground
10 peppercorns, , ground fresh
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/4-1/2 cup pecan halves, (optional)
brandy for basting/spraying
INSTRUCTIONS
- At least a day before, soak the raisins, the rest of the dried fruit, the crystallized ginger and the zests in golden rum. You can do this in a zip top bag if you want. Shake the bag occasionally.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325F and then dump the contents of the zip top bag, including any liquid, into a 3 1/2 quart sauce pan (or similar size. Don't go buy a new pan).
- Add the sugar, butter, juice, and spices (The Beloved grinds the cloves, allspice, pepper and salt together with a mortar and pestle. He wanted me to tell you that) and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 30-45 minutes.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and baking powder into the fruit mixture, combining it quickly with a wooden spoon.
- Stir in the eggs thoroughly, one at a time.
- Pour/scrape the batter into your prepared pan, smooth the top and press on the optional pecans (in a design or not).
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You're looking for an internal temperature of 200F. This will take about an hour or a bit longer, so test at a hour and go from there.
- Remove cake from oven and liberally brush the top with brandy.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, turn it out of the pan and put it in an airtight container. Brush or spray it well with brandy every 2 or 3 days and let it age for at least 2 weeks or up to pretty much forever.
- Enjoy toasted and spread with cream cheese as we do. So delicious!