richard-in-cincy
Well-known member
I have a new fruitcake. This is some seriously good stuff. It's basically a brown sugar pound cake, scented with lemon zest and nutmeg, stuffed with 5 lbs. of fruit and nuts, and then walloped with a slug of Scotch whisky. Very fine indeed.
1 pound granulated sugar (appr. 2 cups)
2 tbls. dark molasses (Note, or you could just use a pound of brown sugar. I use 1 cup regular sugar with 1 tbls. of dark molasses in place of brown sugar because its just so much easier and I think it taste better)
1 pound butter
1 pound eggs (about 8-9)
1 pound flour (appr. 4 cups)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
Zest of 2 lemons
3 oz. Scotch whisky
1 tsp. salt
1.5 pounds red glaceed whole cherries
1 pound glaceed yellow pineapple, chunked
1 pound Paradise mix (This is what my store calls this mix.of orange, lemon, & citron peels, angelica, and cherries)
1 pound walnuts
1/2 pound pecans
Ingredients at room temp.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Cream sugar and butter. Beat until light and airy (about 10 minutes in a KA mixer)
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate before adding the next. Then beat until fluffy. Another 10-15 minutes. This amount of beating is absolutely required at this stage of a pound cake to incorporate the air as there is no leavening.
Beat in vanilla, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest.
Fold in flour 1 cup at a time.
Stir in fruit and nuts, separating the fruits as you drop them in and coat them with batter to avoid big clumps of fruit stuck together..
Turn batter into two thickly buttered 9-inch loaf pans, or 1 tube pan (may have a little left over for "test" cakes depending on the size of your tube pan), or smaller loaves as required.
Bake loaves for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and tester comes out clean. Tube pan will take another 10-15 minutes of baking time. Test to determine when it is done.
Let rest in pans for 20 minutes then turn out onto racks.
Sprinkle quite generously with more Scotch while still warm. Let cool.
Wrap in cheesecloth, douse with more Scotch, store in tightly sealed non-corrosive air-tight container (don't use a metal tin, it will rust). Sprinkle with more Scotch as needed during storage to keep moist.
Store at least 1 week before eating.
When ready to serve, decorate top with fruit pieces: pineapple rings, cherries, pecans, etc. Brush with a glaze of heated apricot or orange marmelade napped with a little Scotch, then strained, to seal. The perfect finishing touch for oohs and aahs when you serve it.
Note on fruit: If you're buying those expensive little containers of dried out candied fruit at the grocery, look for another source. I buy from a local general store that sells candied fruit out of bulk barrels. (You can mail order the same juicy glaceed fruit in syrup if you can't find a local store. It really makes a difference in finished product.) They scoop out what you want, and they carry pineapple in chunks & rings, cherries, chunk pineapple and cherry mix, Paradise mix (see above), lemon peel, orange peel, citron, angelica, marzipan, and some other things (one year they had glaceed peach halves. Those were sweet and made great fruitcake decoration).
1 pound granulated sugar (appr. 2 cups)
2 tbls. dark molasses (Note, or you could just use a pound of brown sugar. I use 1 cup regular sugar with 1 tbls. of dark molasses in place of brown sugar because its just so much easier and I think it taste better)
1 pound butter
1 pound eggs (about 8-9)
1 pound flour (appr. 4 cups)
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
Zest of 2 lemons
3 oz. Scotch whisky
1 tsp. salt
1.5 pounds red glaceed whole cherries
1 pound glaceed yellow pineapple, chunked
1 pound Paradise mix (This is what my store calls this mix.of orange, lemon, & citron peels, angelica, and cherries)
1 pound walnuts
1/2 pound pecans
Ingredients at room temp.
Preheat oven to 325F.
Cream sugar and butter. Beat until light and airy (about 10 minutes in a KA mixer)
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well to incorporate before adding the next. Then beat until fluffy. Another 10-15 minutes. This amount of beating is absolutely required at this stage of a pound cake to incorporate the air as there is no leavening.
Beat in vanilla, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest.
Fold in flour 1 cup at a time.
Stir in fruit and nuts, separating the fruits as you drop them in and coat them with batter to avoid big clumps of fruit stuck together..
Turn batter into two thickly buttered 9-inch loaf pans, or 1 tube pan (may have a little left over for "test" cakes depending on the size of your tube pan), or smaller loaves as required.
Bake loaves for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown and tester comes out clean. Tube pan will take another 10-15 minutes of baking time. Test to determine when it is done.
Let rest in pans for 20 minutes then turn out onto racks.
Sprinkle quite generously with more Scotch while still warm. Let cool.
Wrap in cheesecloth, douse with more Scotch, store in tightly sealed non-corrosive air-tight container (don't use a metal tin, it will rust). Sprinkle with more Scotch as needed during storage to keep moist.
Store at least 1 week before eating.
When ready to serve, decorate top with fruit pieces: pineapple rings, cherries, pecans, etc. Brush with a glaze of heated apricot or orange marmelade napped with a little Scotch, then strained, to seal. The perfect finishing touch for oohs and aahs when you serve it.
Note on fruit: If you're buying those expensive little containers of dried out candied fruit at the grocery, look for another source. I buy from a local general store that sells candied fruit out of bulk barrels. (You can mail order the same juicy glaceed fruit in syrup if you can't find a local store. It really makes a difference in finished product.) They scoop out what you want, and they carry pineapple in chunks & rings, cherries, chunk pineapple and cherry mix, Paradise mix (see above), lemon peel, orange peel, citron, angelica, marzipan, and some other things (one year they had glaceed peach halves. Those were sweet and made great fruitcake decoration).