michael-in-phoenix
Well-known member
...a few years ago. I've tried to get this done for years. By Job, I'm gonna do it this year!
Michael
Ultimate Fruitcake
Makes one 10-by-16-inch cake
For the fruit foundation:
8 ounces dried figs, stemmed and cut into pieces
8 ounces pitted date pieces
8 ounces candied orange peel in 1/8-inch strips
8 ounces raisins
8 ounces golden raisins
8 ounces dried currants
4 ounces dried sweetened cherries
4 ounces dried pineapple
4 ounces walnut halves
4 ounces macadamia nuts
4 ounces whole almonds
1/2 cup dark rum
For the cake batter:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 pound butter at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
For the marzipan:
1 pound almond paste
1 pound powdered sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
For the syrup:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup dark rum
1. Toss the fruits and nuts with 1/2 cup of rum, cover and let rest overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 300. Butter an 11-by-17-inch pan and line it with baker's parchment.
3. Whisk the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and cloves. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar and, one a time, stir in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter and egg mixture and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit and nut mixture, fold everything together thoroughly and scrape into the buttered pan.
4. Press a piece of parchment over the top of the batter and bake it for 50 to 60 minutes, or just until the cake is firm. (Do not over-bake, or the cake will be hard and the sugar in the fruit will caramelize and turn bitter.) Cool the cake in the pan on a rack.
5. Make the marzipan in a food processor, pulsing the almond paste, powdered sugar and corn syrup together to form a soft dough. Knead the dough until it's smooth and keep it covered with plastic wrap until you're ready to top the cake.
6. Stir the corn syrup and rum together and brush the top of the cake with half of the syrup.
7. Roll half the marzipan into a rectangle the same size as the fruitcake, drape it over the surface of the cake and press down to make it stick. Invert the cake out of the pan onto a clean surface and brush the other side with the remaining syrup. Roll out the remaining marzipan and press it onto the second side of the cake.
8. Trim a half-inch from each side of the cake, cut it into 40 two-inch squares and wrap each square in plastic wrap. The wrapped pieces of cake keep refrigerated for several weeks or, frozen, several months.
— Adapted from Nick Malgieri's Oxford Fruitcake in "How to Bake"
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t159/Storehouse78/fruitcake.jpg
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2002/1208/taste.html
Michael
Ultimate Fruitcake
Makes one 10-by-16-inch cake
For the fruit foundation:
8 ounces dried figs, stemmed and cut into pieces
8 ounces pitted date pieces
8 ounces candied orange peel in 1/8-inch strips
8 ounces raisins
8 ounces golden raisins
8 ounces dried currants
4 ounces dried sweetened cherries
4 ounces dried pineapple
4 ounces walnut halves
4 ounces macadamia nuts
4 ounces whole almonds
1/2 cup dark rum
For the cake batter:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 pound butter at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
For the marzipan:
1 pound almond paste
1 pound powdered sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
For the syrup:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup dark rum
1. Toss the fruits and nuts with 1/2 cup of rum, cover and let rest overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 300. Butter an 11-by-17-inch pan and line it with baker's parchment.
3. Whisk the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and cloves. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and brown sugar and, one a time, stir in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter and egg mixture and stir until the batter is smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit and nut mixture, fold everything together thoroughly and scrape into the buttered pan.
4. Press a piece of parchment over the top of the batter and bake it for 50 to 60 minutes, or just until the cake is firm. (Do not over-bake, or the cake will be hard and the sugar in the fruit will caramelize and turn bitter.) Cool the cake in the pan on a rack.
5. Make the marzipan in a food processor, pulsing the almond paste, powdered sugar and corn syrup together to form a soft dough. Knead the dough until it's smooth and keep it covered with plastic wrap until you're ready to top the cake.
6. Stir the corn syrup and rum together and brush the top of the cake with half of the syrup.
7. Roll half the marzipan into a rectangle the same size as the fruitcake, drape it over the surface of the cake and press down to make it stick. Invert the cake out of the pan onto a clean surface and brush the other side with the remaining syrup. Roll out the remaining marzipan and press it onto the second side of the cake.
8. Trim a half-inch from each side of the cake, cut it into 40 two-inch squares and wrap each square in plastic wrap. The wrapped pieces of cake keep refrigerated for several weeks or, frozen, several months.
— Adapted from Nick Malgieri's Oxford Fruitcake in "How to Bake"
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t159/Storehouse78/fruitcake.jpg
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2002/1208/taste.html