Festive
I have had these fruit cake photo bombing just about every post lately. I felt they deserve a solo spot. I wanted to publish the recipe because basically I changed much of it after finding a few flaws. I have to say though, it is probably the best fruit cake I have ever made or eaten. The recipe makes one 9 inch loaf or 3 mini loaves, since I give as gifts I make mini’s. I got the recipe last year from Pure Wow, they call it “The Best Damn Fruitcake” and with a few changes they are right about that. I made 3 more today and am bringing with me to Fiesta Friday, I hope they let me in with fruit cake, it gets a really bad rap and mostly for good reason because some of the commercially prepared fruitcakes are vile.
Next week will be the 100th party post and it happens to fall on Christmas Day, a celebration is in order. This week Angie’s co hosts are Caroline @ Caroline’s Cooking and Linda @ La Petite Paniere. Thank you ladies for hosting this week and Angie for all of her hard work.
Best Damn Fruitcake Redux
Makes one 9 inch loaf or 3 mini loaves
1 1/2 cups dried fruit of your choice- I used cherries, cranberries, apricots, pears and golden raisins. Use however much you like of each so that you have a total of 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 cups nuts chopped- I used pecans, hazelnuts, pistachio’s and almonds. Use whatever you like, however much of each so that it equals 1 1/2 cups
1 cup booze or fruit juice like apple cider- (I have used cognac, bourbon, port, also have thrown in some Poire William), heated on stove top or in microwave until hot not boiling . (This time I used Port and it’s great)
12 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 tbs orange zest
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 tbs retained liquid from fruit
Demerara or turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Pre heat oven to 325 and prepare your loaf pan or pans. Butter or spray with cooking spray.
Pour the hot booze over the fruit and let sit for at least 30 minutes. (You can do this the night before and let the fruit sit all night in the booze)
Drain the fruit but retain the liquid, you will need it later so don’t discard.
Place the drained fruit and chopped nuts in a bowl and set aside.
In your mixer with paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar for about 4-5 minutes. It should be light and fluffy, scrape sides as needed. Add the eggs one at a time beating well between additions and scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla, orange zest and cinnamon.
Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and beat only until combined adding the 1 tbs of retained liquid from the fruit. Remove the bowl from your mixer and add the fruit and nuts and fold in until combined. Add the batter to the pan or pans, smooth the top and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake with the rack in the middle of the oven. If you are making one loaf for about 90 minutes or until tester comes out clean. If mini loaves approximately 45 minutes. They will be golden brown. Remove from the oven and spoon some of the liquid on the loaf or loaves and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack. To finish them spoon some more liquid on them and wrap in plastic or cheese cloth and store in air tight tin, These are best served 48 hours after baking. You can feed them again with the liquid the next day, re wrap and keep in the tin until ready to serve.
There are no photo’s of it sliced but here is one from last year.
apuginthekitchen 