FRUITCAKE101 ( In the beginning......)

 There MUST have been fruitcake......I am positive of that. Fruitcake has a bad rap. The best way to make fruitcake is with good ingredients, the best butter, the best brandy, and always make it during fruitcake weather. That's what my mother always called it, you know those dark, dreary, gloomy, windy days, right near the end of October, early November. 
    I make fruitcake to give away for Christmas. I make three different kinds each year. This year it will be a "Bohemian Dark Chocolate Fruitcake", a "White Ginger Fruitcake" and a "Dark Fruitcake." Wherever possible I substitute dried fruit, instead of the candied stuff, but I still use the candied  here and there. The best way to deal with candied fruit is to wash it...wash it very well, to get rid of all the sticky, gooey, ikky stuff.  In my fruitcakes, I have dried blueberries, real dried cherries, dried cranberries, ginger, almonds, real dried pineapple, etc.

HEre are the three batches of fruit, all sloshing around in a cup (each) of Napoleon Brandy, with about 1/2 cup of orange juice. They will steep away for a day ( or two), making the kitchen smell like brandy. When baked the alcohol will burn off. I like adding the orange juice to mellow everything.
    Stay tuned for addition 2, next time.........when we start baking up these cakes....no sampling the brandy, in the meantime...

White Queen Fruitcake

I love making frruitcake when it's not Christmas. More of a treat. This is a wonderful cake. If you do not like fruitcake, you will, after this.....

WHITE FRUITCAKE ( 1997 from Shirley Moore, Fredericton, New Brunswick. This is  a  lovely, light , pretty cake. )

 COMBINE IN BOWL:                             BATTER:                                               

3 cups light raisins                                            1 pound butter

2 cups glazed /dried fruit ( your choice)           2 cups white sugar

6 candied pineapples, cut up                              10 large eggs

1/3 cups orange peel                                          1/3 cup lemon juice

1 cup green cherries                                           1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup red cherries                                              1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups chopped almonds                                    3 cups flour

1 ½ cups pecan halves                                          pinch of coarse salt

1 cup flour for dusting fruit                                1 tsp baking powder

1 cup of Grand Marnier( or orange juice)

    (but the Grand Marnier is best)

1. Line  small loaf pans with greased parchment paper. You can find loaf pans in the section of the grocery store where they sell foil and cling wrap.

2. Put all ingredients for “Combine in Bowl” into a large bowl and mix together. Let sit for a day to let the flavours mellow. If you don’t want to use Grand Marnier you can use orange juice, but it’s not quite the same.

3.From BATTER List, cream butter with sugar, add eggs 1 at a time. Add the remaining ingredients.  When the batter is ready, pour in the fruit that has been standing for 1 day. Mix with hands ( clean hands).

4.Divide batter between pans. The small loaf tins work so well as they freeze great and are the perfect size for gift giving.

5.Bake at 275 degrees for about 1 hour. I kind of guesstimate the time, and check after 40 minutes by testing the centre.  You do not want to over bake the little loaf pans , so check often.

****Once cooled, you can slip each loaf, right in its foil pan, into a plastic freezer bag. Tie with a gold ribbon, label , and freeze till it’s time to give away. Perfect Christmas cake.