I always leave this to late but finally got to it this weekend. It's not cheap in Canadian pesos but a great recipe. Here are some pictures and will post the recipe if there is interest.
John
Nice. :)
So you're the one making them! LOL Look delicious!
I'm interested in the recipe! When I was a child, I thought fruitcake was the worst thing ever. But somewhere along the way, in the last 56 years, I have changed my mind, and now I love it, especially when it is very nutty. I've been thinking I need to try my hand at making some fruitcake, so if you are willing to share your recipe, that will give me a known starting point!
If you soak them with brandy, light them on fire, and then serve warm with warm Bird's Custard, they are delicious!!! Otherwise they suck. LOL Those look gorgeous! Obviously you didn't skimp on a thing in the recipe! A man after my own tastes! ;D
Yes Al they taste great. Like wine and cheese aged is better. I have managed to squirrel away half of a cake in the cave from the make in October 2015. Now that is a mouth full of flavour.
John
Do you have fruit cakes for weddings in Canada? Traditionally in England the top tier of your wedding cake is kept for the christening of your first child, luckily we only waited a year so it wasn't too dried out and mouldy!
Last year we made a couple for Christmas and just couldn't eat them all so I cut slices vacuum packed and froze them. fantastic to be able to pull out a couple of slices of Christmas cake in July!
Here you go Andy, this is the recipe that my Mother has made for as long as I can remember! http://www.vintagedorset.co.uk/tag/mrs-beeton/ (http://www.vintagedorset.co.uk/tag/mrs-beeton/)
Jon
Quote from: lazyeiger on November 29, 2016, 01:25:22 AM
Do you have fruit cakes for weddings in Canada? Traditionally in England the top tier of your wedding cake is kept for the christening of your first child, luckily we only waited a year so it wasn't too dried out and mouldy!
Last year we made a couple for Christmas and just couldn't eat them all so I cut slices vacuum packed and froze them. fantastic to be able to pull out a couple of slices of Christmas cake in July!
Here you go Andy, this is the recipe that my Mother has made for as long as I can remember! http://www.vintagedorset.co.uk/tag/mrs-beeton/ (http://www.vintagedorset.co.uk/tag/mrs-beeton/)
Jon
We did this when I was married in England. The icing lifted off of the fruit cake a year later in one piece, hard as plaster. LOL Cake was still good!
Many thanks!
Prepare a 10" spring form cake tin cut brown paper (3 layers) to fit bottom and sides of the tin and butter bottom and top layer. Set aside.
1 cup (250 ml) seedless raisins
1 cup (250 ml) golden raisins
1 cup (250 ml) currants
1 LB (454g) red candied cherries
1 LB (454g) green candied cherries
1 cup (250 ml) chopped blanched almonds
1 cup (250 ml) chopped cashews
Combine all fruit and nuts and mix 1\2 cup (125ml) flour (from the 1 2/3 cups) into the fruit and nut mixture.
1 2\3 (410ml) all-purpose flour
1\4 tsp (1ml) baking soda
1\4 tsp (1ml) mace
1\4 tsp (1ml) nutmeg
1 tsp each cinnamon and allspice
In a separate bowl mix remaining flour baking soda and spices.
2\3 cup (160ml) butter
2\3 cup (160ml) brown sugar packed
4 eggs
1\2 cup (125ml) molasses
3 tbsp. orange juice
1\2 cup (125ml) brandy or rum
2\3 cup (160ml) pure strawberry jam
more brandy or rum for wrapping cooked cake.
Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
add molasses, orange juice, brandy or rum and jam. Stir into fruit mixture and mix well. Fold in flour and spice mixture about 1\3 at a time. Spoon into prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Bake on the middle shelf at 250 (120c) oven for 3 1\2 hours or until cake tests done.
Before baking starts place a pan of hot water on the shelf beneath the cake.
When done remove cake from the pan and cool on rack. Remove brown paper. Wrap in brandy \ rum soaked cheese cloth and then in foil. Store in cool place for at least 3 weeks to ripen. When long term ageing wash with brandy \ rum (brandy \ rum is the preservative) about every 1 to 2 months.
Frost if desired.
I have been perusing quite a number of different fruitcake recipes, including the ones above. While the basic ingredients are the same -- butter, eggs, flour, spices, preserved fruits, nuts -- there is quite a startling variation in the proportions, what sort(s) of fruits, and what sort of liquids - if any - are used. (I was particularly surprised to find a large number of recipes not using molasses - I thought that would be a given!) There is also quite a bit of variation in the methods of preparation.
Well, one of the things I love about making cheese is the freedom to experiment with variations to see how it affects the final result, and to try to emphasize the flavors and textures that we particularly want. With that in mind, I decided to assemble my own recipe from the various options that I have been reading. I especially like fruitcake that is extra nutty, so my experiment adjusts the proportions of fruit and nuts accordingly. Will it work? Will it be any good at all? That remains to be seen - ask me in a few weeks! But I will say that the batter tasted pretty darn good, maybe even close to heavenly. :)
But in case anyone is interesting in the franken-fruitcake recipe that I came up with, I have attached it. If you read it, you'll see alternatives that other recipes suggest in parentheses -- these are not alternatives that I have tried for this round, but things that I wanted to keep in mind for future experimentation.
Whatever your fruitcake preference (including none at all), I wish you all a blessed holiday season!
Looks delicious Andy!! I've seen fruitcakes made without molasses and they appear almost yellow. Really couldn't see the point in eating one. LOL These and Christmas Puddings are my favorite. A merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all!!
A couple of notes after they finished cooling - I either need to use smaller pans (to get a thicker cake), or lower the temperature, or reduce the time - I took them out after 1:45 and they were overdone. :( I'm hoping the next few weeks of brandy infusion will help them moisten up. Also, I should have gone ahead with my first inclination, and lined the pans with parchment paper (as John H shows) - they stuck badly on the bottom. :(
Well, still fun to experiment with, and I have hopes that in 3-4 weeks they will at least be edible! :)
I'm sure they will be fine! ;)
Well, I am reasonably confident they will be edible, and even tasty. I'm mostly worried that they will be too dry. But I will keep infusing them over the next few weeks, and that may help ... and even if they are still too dry, I suspect I'll still go ahead and eat far too much. :)
Thanks to everyone for their input and recipes. Sorry for taking so long for posting the recipe I use and not being more active, work is getting in the way!!!!!!! Straight days and weekends in :o LOL.
awakephd I'm sure it will be great. Like you said just brush the cheese cloth just watch it will get soggy in the center if you use to much. If that happens let it air out for a few hours and it will reduce into a heavenly rich fruit cake. :P
John
Helpful advice, thanks. Right now it is wrapped in cheesecloth, moistened with 1+ tbs of brandy, then sealed up in plastic. I plan to unseal and re-moisten at least once per week.
Quote from: awakephd on December 05, 2016, 01:36:58 AM
Helpful advice, thanks. Right now it is wrapped in cheesecloth, moistened with 1+ tbs of brandy, then sealed up in plastic. I plan to unseal and re-moisten at least once per week.
Any update awakephd? :P
Thanks for asking! The fruitcakes are now consumed - I saved one into February, but finally couldn't resist finishing it off. They were a bit dry and overdone, as noted above, but still quite tasty. As dry as they were, they absorbed quite a lot of brandy before they really seemed to be appropriately moistened ... but still didn't taste over-brandified. :) I look forward to trying again, this time putting the batter into two pans rather than three, and watching the cooking time more closely.
I should have taken some pictures ... not sure why I didn't. Next time ...
Made another batch of Christmas cake about a month ago anyone else made any this year? The last batch lasted about 1 1\2 years and was heavenly at the end.
Have not made Fruit Cake before, but my dad used to. I have a question about the instructions though. Why three layers of brown paper? Is brown paper important, or could parchment paper be used? Thanks for posting the recipe. If I hurry I can get some made in time to be ready by Christmas!
I have a John H. Recipe fruit cake in the oven!
Sorry for the late reply. Not sure why they use brown paper other than it is a very old recipe and maybe that was all they had. I also noticed brown paper is thicker so maybe helps in keeping the moisture in.
Keep me posted on how it is going.
John
Hey TravisNTexas how did your fruit cake turn out?
Wow, blast from the past :) It turned out very well indeed, thank you! And thanks to John for posting the recipe in the first place!