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The Fruitcake Topic

Suvir Saran

By Suvir Saran
in Pastry & Baking

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oli

oli

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, heidih said:

 

Yes citrus is a winter fruit - odd as it seems. Mine are green now Of oourse we are in drought and odd warm weather so who knows...  Expect youur usual expectations to be shatttered.

 

Somebody on every street has a lemon tree, so maybe lemon leaves will work.

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I think I am going to make some pork mincemeat and a pork cake, which is sort of a fruit cake.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
Posted

I was digging through a box of recipes that were my grandmother's.  I found one for mincemeat.  I remember she had canning jars of the stuff in the basement.  Since I'm the only one in the family who likes it in any form, I won't bother to even attempt it.  If you're interested, here it is:

 

3 lbs beef

1 lb suet

2/3 quarts apples

2 lbs, raisins

2 lbs currents

rinds from 2 lemons, grated

1 gallon of cider

Cloves, nutmeg cinnamon and sugar to taste.

 

The rest of the recipe is up to you, there are no instructions  I'm assuming she ground it all together.

 

I remember how amazed I was to find out that mincemeat really was actual meat

 

 

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted

I was debating making fruitcake this year but only half-heartedly and with an attentive eye looking for a way out. Ask and you shall receive... the Shriners were set up doing their fruitcake sales for this year when I went to the grocery store today. No booze and not going to rival anything Rob bought but dark, moist, packed with fruit and nuts and plenty tasty enough for my annual fix. Better than any grocery store fruitcake I've tried. Plus the proceeds go towards transportation assistance for children with medical needs so I get a little feel good to go with the taste good. I can throw a shot of something in my coffee or eggnog while I eat the fruitcake and call it close enough if I really miss the booze. And at $20 for a box of 3 x 1 lb. pieces, it's more in line with what I'm willing to spend on fruitcake. :D

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, IowaDee said:

I was digging through a box of recipes that were my grandmother's.  I found one for mincemeat.  I remember she had canning jars of the stuff in the basement.  Since I'm the only one in the family who likes it in any form, I won't bother to even attempt it.  If you're interested, here it is:

 

3 lbs beef

1 lb suet

2/3 quarts apples

2 lbs, raisins

2 lbs currents

rinds from 2 lemons, grated

1 gallon of cider

Cloves, nutmeg cinnamon and sugar to taste.

 

The rest of the recipe is up to you, there are no instructions  I'm assuming she ground it all together.

 

I remember how amazed I was to find out that mincemeat really was actual meat

 

 

In this area, anyone who knows a hunter tries to get dibs on a deer neck to make mincemeat with.

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

And at $20 for a box of 3 x 1 lb. pieces, it's more in line with what I'm willing to spend on fruitcake. :D

Yep. And I have been known to remove them from the wrapper, poke a few holes in them, drizzle a little something something....

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Yep. And I have been known to remove them from the wrapper, poke a few holes in them, drizzle a little something something....

 

Campari?

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Campari?

 

When I lived in Burbank in the early '60s, the neighbors across the street were elderly ex-pat Brits.  Not long after I met them, she invited me for coffee and brought out a loaf- shaped fruitcake that was very dark and very redolent of alcohol.  She said this was "HER" fruitcake that was store bought but she had been anointing it with port every month for almost a year.  She said her husband did not like the port so he had "HIS" fruitcake that had been periodically moistened with brandy.  She said she waited until after the holidays when the fruitcakes went on sale to purchase a few.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Campari?

 

 

Not sure if you were serious or not but I kinda like that idea.  I made a blood orange and Campari marmalade last year that I quite liked and I can see translating that into a fruitcake.  Or maybe go all the way and add the vermouth and whiskey to make a Boulevardier fruitcake 🙃

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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted
On 11/16/2018 at 11:59 AM, andiesenji said:

I think I am going to make some pork mincemeat and a pork cake, which is sort of a fruit cake.

 

I've got your pork cake recipe saved. One of these years, I'm going to get ambitious enough to attempt it.

 

Have not decided what Thursday's dessert should be. I' thinking either a pumpkin cheesecake or maybe a caramel apple cake. Or maybe a pecan pie. Or some combination of the above.

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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  • 3 weeks later...
David Ross

David Ross

Posted
Posted

 

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 8:22 AM, David Ross said:

Last season I had just gotten out of the hospital at the time I normally make new fruitcakes.  So I ordered some ingredients to be delivered but didn't realize until after I had mixed everything that I had used a "light" fruitcake recipe.  I was pretty disappointed because we grew up having dark fruitcakes like my Grandmother and Great Aunt made.  About a month ago I took one out and to my delight, it was delicious.  I still prefer the dark style but I don't mind at all eating a light fruitcake now.

 

By the way, I usually use both brown sugar and molasses in a dark fruitcake.  Anyone else put something different when making a dark fruitcake?

I found three more light fruitcakes stored in the back shelf of the pantry.  I've come to quite like them, but still favor a dark fruitcake.

 

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David Ross

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David Ross

David Ross

Posted
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I bought this dark fruitcake at Cost Plus World Market last week.  Imported from the UK, it's just fair, nothing I would buy again.  The icing is of course delicious, but the cake is dry and there is no hint of brandy which is listed as one of the ingredients.  So I have it curing under a good dousing of Cointreau.

 

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David Ross

David Ross

Posted
Posted

It's that time of year!  Time for fruitcake.  Honestly I love coming to this discussion thread.  It's nearly impossible to have a discussion about fruitcake with family or friends.  The exceptions being my Sister and one Cousin.  Our Mothers and Grandmothers all made delicious fruitcake.  Are you making or buying fruitcake this year?

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David Ross

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, David Ross said:

It's that time of year!  Time for fruitcake.  Honestly I love coming to this discussion thread.  It's nearly impossible to have a discussion about fruitcake with family or friends.  The exceptions being my Sister and one Cousin.  Our Mothers and Grandmothers all made delicious fruitcake.  Are you making or buying fruitcake this year?

Hmmm. Yes, I think I will.

I spied some Brazil nuts at TJ's today.  Not as cheap as they used to be but I do like them in a fruitcake. Now to go back to pick some up and decide on the rest!

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Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, David Ross said:

Are you making or buying fruitcake this year?

I was in my local Walmart Neighborhood grocery store and saw that they had their Christmas decorations and candies out already. Among the goods I found Claxton Fruitcake (click....if you scroll down the fruitcake is pictured in the left photo).

I must say it is quite heavy for its size and could probably be used as an unperturbed doorstop in a hurricane.

Sadly, it's very fruity and there's not much cake to it. Still, I think that has provided my fill for the holiday season. 

I'm not a fan of boozy fruitcake, either, and this Claxton Fruitcake doesn't seem boozy in the least.

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Hmmm. Yes, I think I will.

I spied some Brazil nuts at TJ's today.  Not as cheap as they used to be but I do like them in a fruitcake. Now to go back to pick some up and decide on the rest!

Brazil nuts have a unique flavor that is different from most tree nuts.  My grandparent's cook used to buy a "peck" basket of them - a quarter of a bushel - and boil them in the shells and then roast them.  My cousins and I would be seated on the floor with old cast-iron sad irons upside-down between our legs and with hammers to crack them and a couple of the women helpers would remove the nuts from the shells.  

I think they were boiled to kill an occasional bug or worm.  

She would slice some for baking, some were ground and made into a lovely pudding (I wish I had that recipe, it was delicious.  One of her sons, who occasionally worked in the kitchen, would carve little animals and pixies, etc., from the largest Brazil nuts and arrange them on trays to display.  

The Brazil nut cake, fruitcake, was made with 2 pounds of the nuts, chopped coarsely, "white" raisins and fresh coconut.  It was quite moist and was not intended for aging - besides it would never have lasted that long.  Cook made a syrup cooking the raisins, the grated coconut and the coconut water until it was thick. The solids were strained out and mixed into the batter and the day after it was baked - and left out overnight - the syrup was drizzled onto the cake.  And that's all I can recall.  It was baked in a large, deep rectangular pan. 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted (edited)

I know I posted about this before but it has been a trying day and I've no patience to search. My preference is soaking the fruits in a sweet low alc like port for at least a month or two and then incorporating them in a Caribbean style dark cake. Heavenly.   https://forums.egullet.org/topic/100521-black-cake-and-browning/

 

Edited by heidih (log)
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kayb

kayb

Posted
Posted

I might make Eudora Welty's White Fruitcake, which is pretty awful as a fruitcake but, sliced and baked again, makes really nice biscotti/crackers.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, kayb said:

I might make Eudora Welty's White Fruitcake, which is pretty awful as a fruitcake but, sliced and baked again, makes really nice biscotti/crackers.

 

 

Is that fruitcake from one of her short stories or does she have a real cookbook?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Is that fruitcake from one of her short stories or does she have a real cookbook?

 

 

Neither.  It's reportedly a family recipe that Welty included in her Christmas card one year and it went on to be published all over the place. 

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JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Neither.  It's reportedly a family recipe that Welty included in her Christmas card one year and it went on to be published all over the place. 

 

Too bad.  It would make a great short story.

 

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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