The Fruitcake Topic

[heidih]

Well? U.S. Thanksgiving is next week. Anyone ready to bust out/show their efforts?  The best I did this year was olive oil spice cake - no fruit. Maybe I'll try one with craisins and call it Pandemic fcake? 

[gfron1]

I dug in deep this year. I made the NYT "Good Fruitcake" sourcing each ingredient with the best I could find (meaning the best candied cherries, pineapple, etc). Right now It's wrapped with cheesecloth and dotted with bay leaves - something I stole from (If I remember correctly) Collin Street Bakery.

 

But the other funny thing that happened is that my posts on social media (bizarrely) led to random strangers sending me money, so I've now bought 10 different fruitcakes that I'll be trying out next week. Since I now have a Patreon of Fruitcakes, I posted this ad this morning to thank them.

For the record, I think this is funny and ludicrous

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

I dug in deep this year. I made the NYT "Good Fruitcake" sourcing each ingredient with the best I could find (meaning the best candied cherries, pineapple, etc). Right now It's wrapped with cheesecloth and dotted with bay leaves - something I stole from (If I remember correctly) Collin Street Bakery.

 

But the other funny thing that happened is that my posts on social media (bizarrely) led to random strangers sending me money, so I've now bought 10 different fruitcakes that I'll be trying out next week. Since I now have a Patreon of Fruitcakes, I posted this ad this morning to thank them.

For the record, I think this is funny and ludicrous

 

That is great. Giggles are good in troubled times. The bay leaf thing reminds me of a bit in one of Marlena de Blasi's wonderful books where she saw the locals alternately threading bay leaves and figs to dry. Similar flavor band? Maybe in Umbria?

[gfron1]

For those of you on the edge of your seats, here are the ones I tried:

Assumption Abbey, Ava, MO

Gethsemani, Trappist, KY

Sisters of St. Benedict, Ferdinand, IN

My own from the NYT, Good Fruitcake recipe

June Taylor Company, Berkeley, CA

Frog Hollow, Brentwood, CA

Abbot's Table, Conyers, GA

Date Lady, Springfield, MO

[Anna N]

17 minutes ago, gfron1 said:

For those of you on the edge of your seats, here are the ones I tried:

And?

[gfron1]

40 minutes ago, Anna N said:

And?

Still lots to digest (literally and figuratively), but I just finished my ingredient analysis which I can share tonight:

FruitcakeIngredients.docx

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, gfron1 said:

For those of you on the edge of your seats, here are the ones I tried:

Assumption Abbey, Ava, MO

Gethsemani, Trappist, KY

Sisters of St. Benedict, Ferdinand, IN

My own from the NYT, Good Fruitcake recipe

June Taylor Company, Berkeley, CA

Frog Hollow, Brentwood, CA

Abbot's Table, Conyers, GA

Date Lady, Springfield, MO

 

The only fruitcake I have made was from the NY Times recipe.  To my taste the texture was ruined by fig seeds.  If I ever make fruitcake again* I'd probably use the NY Times recipe but omit the dried figs.

 

 

*which is by no means assured.

 

[gfron1]

17 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The only fruitcake I have made was from the NY Times recipe.  To my taste the texture was ruined by fig seeds.  If I ever make fruitcake again* I'd probably use the NY Times recipe but omit the dried figs.

 

*which is by no means assured.

I agree, and I bought the fancy french plums and some seed shards made it in so now I'm eating at my own peril. I would likely just just regular American ones next time.

[AAQuesada]

On 11/25/2020 at 4:40 PM, gfron1 said:

Frog Hollow, Brentwood, CA

That's where I live -Frogs Hollow is a regular at the Santa Monica farmers market and well known grower among chefs for there fantastic fruit especially peaches and stone fruit.

 

Looks like a great list also curious how the June Taylor stacks up since she is also well know for her jams -one would think she has access to the best Northern California fruit.

[David Ross]

A new fruitcake recipe I crafted this year, the Tropical Fruitcake.  This started with a fruitcake recipe that appeared in "FOODday" in the Portland Oregonian on October 6, 1992.  There were a series of different recipes, but this one caught my eye since it used dried fruits rather than the candied fruits we find in the markets this time of year.  My regular fruitcake recipe will be on the list for this week, but I've gotten behind.  My Great Aunt Bertie taught me that her best fruitcakes were aged for at least 5 years and I even think she had one at 10 years.  I tend to make one for this season to eat now, then another one to age during the year.  But in recent years I haven't resisted temptation and I've eaten the darn fruitcake in July, so haven't had a nice aged one to fall back on during the holidays.

 

The dried fruits make this a really moist and delicious fruitcake, and I didn't add molasses like I do for my regular cakes so it doesn't have the dark color.  Just delicious, and it will be better in a month after more glogs of rum.

 

 

1 1/3 cups light brown sugar

1 cup softened butter

6 large eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. mace

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 cups golden raisins

1 cup chopped dried papaya

1 cup chopped dried mango

1 cup chopped dried pineapple

1/3 cup chopped dried, candied ginger

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1 cup chopped pistachios

3/4 cup dark rum, divided

 

Preheat the oven to 300. Spray the bundt cake pan with cooking spray with flour.

 

In a mixer add the brown sugar, butter and eggs and beat to combine. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, mace and cloves and mix to combine. With the mixer running, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat to combine. Spoon the batter in a large bowl.

 

Add the raisins, papaya, mango, pineapple, ginger, macadamia nuts, pistachios and 1/2 cup of the rum to the batter mixture. Stir the mixture by hand to combine the fruits, nuts and batter. Stir in the 1/2 cup of dark rum.

Spread the batter in the bundt cake pans up to 1" from the top of the pan. Place each bundt cake pan in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with up to 2" of water. The water helps create steam during baking to keep the fruitcake moist.

 

Bake the fruitcakes for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Bring the fruitcakes out of the oven and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool. Let the fruitcakes cool completely, then spoon the rum over the top.

 

Store the fruitcakes in a large plastic container, covered, in a cool, dark place. Spoon rum over the fruitcake once a week until serving.

If you're storing the fruitcakes during the year, wrap them in cheesecloth and tie with cotton string. Store in a large plastic container, covered, in a cool, dark place. Spoon rum over the cheesecloth once every two to three months during the year. The fruitcakes will keep for over a year.

 

This recipe makes enough fruitcake batter for two 9" bundt cake pans.  You can cut the recipe in half for one fruitcake.  Freeze any leftover batter and make fruitcake muffins or fruitcake loaves.

 

[heidih]

On 11/27/2020 at 9:58 AM, David Ross said:

The dried fruits make this a really moist and delicious fruitcake, and I didn't add molasses like I do for my regular cakes so it doesn't have the dark color.  Just delicious, and it will be better in a month after more glogs of rum.

 

 

 

Certainly pretty. Has that stained glass look. Were your dried fruits quite pliable or did you plump thm in some way? - like @andiesenji has mentioned steaming candied ones I think.  The cut view looks so moist it is coming apart a bit. Would you increase batter ratio or was it good to you? The mentioned water in the under-pan is interesting. 

[David Ross]

7 minutes ago, heidih said:

Certainly pretty. Has that stained glass look. Were your dried fruits quite pliable or did you plump thm in some way? - like @andiesenji has mentioned steaming candied ones I think.  The cut view looks so moist it is coming apart a bit. Would you increase batter ratio or was it good to you? The mentioned water in the under-pan is interesting. 

The fruits were just dried, I didn't soak them ahead or plump them at all.  I buy them in bulk and so they aren't overly expensive, and just naturally dried that concentrates flavors and sugars.  The batter ratio was just right for me, and my fruitcakes do typically tend to fall apart but that's never been intentional, although I enjoy the texture.  The baking in a water bath came from the newspaper recipe I started with, and I think it may keep the fruitcake a little more moist while baking.

 

[heidih]

I was looking at it from my dark fruitcake Carib style which is far from a "door stop" but we could slice with a serrated knife quite thinly as it is intense. Your lighter style looks delightful - plus as I noted - festively colorful. 

[heidih]

@David Lebovitz posted this  one on his site that tracks my dark one. Sounds like a winner. https://www.davidlebovitz.com/black-fruitcake-recipe/#more-48441

[David Ross]

Today I start the baking of the fruitcake recipe I've used for years.  It comes from the Great Northern Railroad who every holiday season served fruitcakes onboard their passenger trains, most notably the Empire Builder.  Passengers could actually buy fruitcakes at ticket offices and onboard the trains. What a different world.  It's more the traditional style rather than the tropical fruitcake I posted earlier.  The tropical fruitcake used dried fruits and this one, the "train" version uses the traditional candied fruits.  

[David Ross]

I guess it's because I got behind in recent years with my fruitcake stocks, so I've been on the binge so far this season.  The tropical fruitcake was a new entry into the fruitcake stocks, and it's been delicious.  And social distancing has done something unusual, I've found how many of my friends love, and want, a fruitcake, so I've been making them fruitcakes in exchange for treats.  All done by leaving goodie bags at the back door.  Here are three using my traditional recipe from the Great Northern Railroad.  I add some brown sugar to the recipe to get the cake a little darker, and other than that it's pretty much the same as the original, but you can vary it to your liking. These won't be eaten this year but age for at least one, maybe go to about 5 years with the brandy fruitcake.

 

 

[David Ross]

This is the recipe with my notes to the side. 

 

[MokaPot]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:39 PM, gfron1 said:

Still lots to digest (literally and figuratively), but I just finished my ingredient analysis which I can share tonight:

FruitcakeIngredients.docx 92.09 kB · 21 downloads

@gfron1, when you have the time, I'd be interested to know which one(s) of those fruitcakes you liked. I've always been curious about stuff made in the monasteries, like fruitcakes and fudge.

[David Ross]

1 hour ago, MokaPot said:

@gfron1, when you have the time, I'd be interested to know which one(s) of those fruitcakes you liked. I've always been curious about stuff made in the monasteries, like fruitcakes and fudge.

One of the best fruitcakes I ever had was made by the Monks at the Monastery at Mt. Angel in the Williamette Valley of Oregon.  We lived in Salem and used to drive thru there every Sunday to visit friends that had a horse farm.  The monks also made delicious fudge and penuche.

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, David Ross said:

One of the best fruitcakes I ever had was made by the Monks at the Monastery at Mt. Angel in the Williamette Valley of Oregon.  We lived in Salem and used to drive thru there every Sunday to visit friends that had a horse farm.  The monks also made delicious fudge and penuche.

As some enjoy cheddar cheese with apple pie, I think some of Sister Noella's respected cheese from the Abbey of Regina Laudis  might pair nicely. Seriously - anyone enjoy cheese w/ fruitcake?

[David Ross]

11 minutes ago, heidih said:

As some enjoy cheddar cheese with apple pie, I think some of Sister Noella's respected cheese from the Abbey of Regina Laudis  might pair nicely. Seriously - anyone enjoy cheese w/ fruitcake?

I never thought of that but I would try it, might be delicious.

[MokaPot]

17 hours ago, David Ross said:

One of the best fruitcakes I ever had was made by the Monks at the Monastery at Mt. Angel in the Williamette Valley of Oregon.  We lived in Salem and used to drive thru there every Sunday to visit friends that had a horse farm.  The monks also made delicious fudge and penuche.

 

@David Ross, I went on the website and they do have a marketplace. Unfortunately, no fruitcakes and fudge!

 

[Katie Meadow]

On 12/11/2020 at 9:26 AM, David Ross said:

I guess it's because I got behind in recent years with my fruitcake stocks, so I've been on the binge so far this season.  The tropical fruitcake was a new entry into the fruitcake stocks, and it's been delicious.  And social distancing has done something unusual, I've found how many of my friends love, and want, a fruitcake, so I've been making them fruitcakes in exchange for treats.  All done by leaving goodie bags at the back door.  Here are three using my traditional recipe from the Great Northern Railroad.  I add some brown sugar to the recipe to get the cake a little darker, and other than that it's pretty much the same as the original, but you can vary it to your liking. These won't be eaten this year but age for at least one, maybe go to about 5 years with the brandy fruitcake.

 

 

Amazing! Gobsmacked over your output and the fruitcakes' longevity. I'm going to crawl back into bed for a nap now.

[gfron1]

On 12/11/2020 at 3:53 PM, MokaPot said:

@gfron1, when you have the time, I'd be interested to know which one(s) of those fruitcakes you liked. I've always been curious about stuff made in the monasteries, like fruitcakes and fudge.

I never circled back to share the video I made: HERE ON YOUTUBE

And here is my list. Note that just because it's on the list doesn't mean I particularly enjoyed it. Details are in the video.

 

[Susanwusan]

These are the rums I can get to make a Jamaican rum cake, which one would work best? Malibu Caribbean White Rum with Coconut Flavour, Bacardi Coconut Rum Spirit Drink, Lamb's Navy Dark Rum, Bacardí Carta Blanca Rum, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Gold, Havana Club 3 Year Old White Rum, Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, Havana Club Añejo Especial Golden Rum.

I've got some dried mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants and mixed candied peel), can dried chopped dates and apricots be used?  I might be able to sort-of-candy fresh or tinned pineapple.