Beanthere:
Guess I'm a weido too. Can't help you right now but I'll look for the recipe or,
Ask the VFW Ladies Aux. They are doing a lot of baking right now for the bake sale.
Lou

The only fruit cake I like is Alton Brown's recipe, which uses dried fruits and none of those gawdawful candied things. And it's VERY good.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alton's Free-rnage Fruitcake

Yes yes yes to Alton's Freerange Fruitcake! I have one "marinating" in spiced rum that I made last December and I can't wait to slice it around Thanksgiving.

Here's mine...

Fruit cake....makes 1 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf
1 1/2 c. shelled whole brazil nuts

1 1/2 walnut halves ( I use 3/4 c walnuts and 3/4 c. pecans)

1/2 c. pitted dates, cut up
1/2 cup dried apricots, cut up.

1/2 cup candied orange peel and
1/2 cup dried pineapple

1/2 c red marischino cherries, drained a long time!!
Or `1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 white sultana raisins

3/4 c sifted flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla

Mix fruit and nuts. mix dry ingredients and sift over the fruit and nuts,
tossing to coat evenly. Beat eggs until light and fluffy, add vanilla, and
add to the fruit mix, tossing to mix but gently!!
Butter a loaf pan ( actually you should have done this before you started!)
line it with parchment and butter the parchment. Place mixture in pan,
pressing down to eliminate air bubbles and bake 300deg. for 1/1/2 to 1 3/4
hrs....test with a toothpick. I soak with brandy and wrap in cheese cloth
and foil and a plastic bag and store in the refrig. for at least a month.
Keeps for years as long as you replenish the brandy from time to time to
keep it from molding!
Of course you can save some of the nut halves to decorate the top before
baking if you want to be fancy schmancy.
Enjoy!!
This recipe is just made for tinkering with....just have 4 cups dried and or candied fruits and 3 cups nuts....
You can sub some dried figs for something else...or dried cranberries for part of the raisins...peaches for apricots..hazel nuts for brazil nuts ( I really like that!) and a few pistachios for some of the walnuts....for color.
Enjoy!
Linda

I make one from an old Better Homes & Garden cookbook. Orange juice concentrate is in the batter and makes that fruitcake moist and delicious. Just got back from a week on the road visiting relatives in law. Ahhhhhhhhh, home. Tomorrow I'll copy that recipe. It is absolutely moist and delicious. It's always good to have an option!

Harvest Forum has had annual threads on fruitcake several years running. Unfortunately, some of the "grade A" ones have dropped off, but many of the preferred recipes have been re-posted in more recent threads. Check out the link.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Fruitcake Threads

This is the one we've made in our family for as long as I can remember. There's just enough batter to hold the fruits and nuts together.

MINI FRUITCAKES

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups pecan halves
1 pkg. (8 oz.) pitted dates, cut in half crosswise
1 container (4 oz.) candied red cherries (3/4 cup)
1 container (4 oz.) candied pineapple, cut in chunks (1/2 cup)
3 Tbs. bourbon

Grease 3 small loaf pans. Line bottoms with waxed paper and grease again. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat egg with sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in flour mixture just until blended.

Stir in fruit and nuts until lightly coated with batter. Divide among pans. Press down with hands moistened with water until solidly packed.

Bake on middle rack of preheated 300 degree oven for 40 minutes or until tops are dry but not brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle each cake with 1 Tbs. bourbon. Let sit for 5 minutes. Loosen edges, remove from pan, peel off paper, and turn top side up to cool. Wrap airtight. Let stand at least two to three weeks to develop flavor. Store in a cool place up to 3 months. Slice thinly with a sharp knife.

OK, we should run a poll as to who really loves the candied fruit and who can't stand them. I never liked fruitcake until I had the Alton Brown recipe without the candied stuff, and I finally figured out that was what had made me detest fruitcake all my life until then!

I've never understood why fruitcake got to be such a joke. I think they're delicious! What's not to like about nuts and fruit in cake? Even the ones with the candied fruit!

I love, love, love fruitcake!! I use a recipe which was published in Family Circle Magazine about 20 years ago. It is called a Kentucky Bourbon Cake but is essentiality a fruit cake. I renamed it North Carolina Rum cake because I use rum not bourbon. The recipe was perfected in the FC Mag kitchens for use in home kitchens and it bakes perfectly every time! The original recipe was printed in a cookbook around the same time and it does NOT cook right. I found this out when I lost my copy of FC and used the cookbook version - lost a ton of $$$ that year because the cakes did not come out right. I ordered the recipe from FC Mag and keep copies of it in my files. I will get the recipe out and print it here. I remember it has a mix of brown sugar and white plus one pound of toasted whole pecans, one pound of candied cherries and one pound of currants. The cherries and currants get soaked in 1/2 cup of rum overnight before baking the cake. You can omit the cherries and use mixed candied fruit if you prefer.

Hope to post recipe by Friday afternoon.

DL

I always made my own until British import shops here starting bring them down from England and I do love fruit cake at Christmas.
Now I just buy a small one as Wolf doesn't eat much fruit cake. Here's the recipe I have used:

CHRISTMAS CAKE

1 lb flour (4 cups)
3/4 lb butter (1 3/4 cups)
1/2 lb soft brown or castor sugar
1 lb sultanas (2 2/3 cups)
1 lb currants (2 2/3 cups)
6 oz chopped mixed peel (1 cup)
1/4 lb glaccherries chopped (2/3 cup)
6 large eggs

1/4 lb almonds (1 cup)
1 teasp grated orange rind
1 TBS black treacle (molasses)
1 level teasp baking powder
1/2 teasp mixed spice
1 wineglass (or more) of brandy

1. Sieve the flour with the baking powder, spice and a pinch of salt.

2. Blanch the almonds and finely chop; chop the peel or put through a mincer; quarter the cherries.

3. Put the butter into a bowl and warm it slightly; beat with a wooden spoon. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, using a level dessertspoon of flour as each egg is added. Then stir in the treacle (molasses).

4. Add half the rest of the flour, all the fruit, almonds and orange rind. Put the other half of the flour on top, stir and mix well but do not beat. Put in the brandy. If the mixture seems too stiff, add a little milk - the mixture should drop easily from a spoon.

5. Prepare a cake tin about 10 inches in diameter, grease the tin then line with buttered grease-proof paper high enough to come 2 to 3 inches above the top of the tin.

6. Put in the cake mixture, slightly press in the centre to make the cake rise evenly and stand the cake on a layer of coarse crushed salt on a baking tin (or cookie sheet). This will prevent the bottom becoming too brown before the cake is cooked.

7. Have the oven preheated at Gas4, electricity 350F. Put the cake not higher than the centre of the oven - just below if possible. Lower the heat at once to Gas2, electricity 300F for one hour, then lower the heat to Gas 1, electricity 275F. The cake will take from 5 to 6 hours to cook. Test with a warmed fine skewer or knitting needle after 5 hours.

8. After removing from the oven leave it in the tin for half an hour, then turn out onto wire rack, remove the paper. After about 12 hours, wrap in double sheets of greaseproof paper and store in a tin with tightly fitting lid until required for icing.
If preferred, the cake can be baked at Gas 3, electricity 325F for 1 hour, then turned to Gas 1 electricity 275F for the rest of the time.

Source: The Margaret Powell Cookery Book - London 1970.

***************

ICING THE CAKE: - in two stages
---------------------------

ALMOND PASTE (Marzipan)

12 oz ground almonds (3 cups)
6 oz castor sugar (3/4 cup) (or fine fruit sugar)
6 oz sieved icing sugar (1 1/2 cups)
3 egg whites
few drops almond essence
3 TBS apricot jam, sieved

ROYAL ICING - (three days later)

4 egg whites
2 lbs icing sugar, sieved (7 to 8 cups)
4 teasp lemon juice
2 teasp glycerine

1. Mix almonds and sugar in a bowl, then blend in egg whites and almond essence to make a soft paste. Knead until it is smooth, then divide into three equal portions.

2. Roll one piece onto a sugared board to an 8-inch circle. Roll remaining two-thirds to a strip the same depth as cake, and long enough to go all the way around the edge..

3. Brush the sides of cake with apricot jam. Press long strip around sides and press firmly to join. Place circle of paste on top of cake. Allow to dry for at least three days before icing.

4. Whisk egg whites for royal icing until they become frothy. Add sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat well after each addition. Finally beat in lemon juice and glycerine. To prevent the icing hardening, cover bowl with a damp cloth.

5. Spread icing thickly over top and round sides of cake and smooth flat. Leave for a day to set and then decorate with red ribbon around sides.

Tip: Using glycerine in the icing ensures that it is not hard. The lemon juice adds flavour and helps tp make a softer icing.

Source: Hamlyn All Colour Cook Book
London - 1970.

MY ADVICE: Buy ready made marzipan, apply it and then top with purchased rolled fondant icing. It's softer and easier than royal icing.

SharonCb

Yet one more person who can appreciate a good fruitcake - dark or white, but dark is probably my favorite. A slice with a nice cup of hot tea - mmmmmmmmmm.

I'd like to suggest King Arthur's European Candied Orange Peel and European Mixed Peel, as well as European Orange and Lemon Zest. I use these items year-round in baked goods and keep them in the freezer, and always include them in fruitcake. I also make a lot of my own candied and dried fruit in the dehydrator.

Is fruitcake and mincemeat pie a thing of the past? Will the next generation love and make them? Probably not - no microwaveable recipes for them (LOL).

-Grainlady

Oh my! So I'm NOT the only one who likes fruitcake!

I actually do like the candied fruit IF it is the good kind (like the King Arhur or similar). My peeve is the raisins. While I like raisins in general, I prefer sultans in fruitcake.

Sharon, I'm fascinated by the recipe you posted. I don't think I've ever seen an iced fruitcake.

I may have to make a couple of different ones.

When do you usually start making them? I was thinking I'd go ahead and order nuts (from our local nut farm) and candied fruits now. Last year I waited too long and there wasn't a fig nor candied cherry to be found.

Bean there.....I know only iced fruitcakes for Christmas and weddings. Always with the marzipan layer under the icing and soooo very rich and sweet. (See why I'm dieting lol.)

Here's one I bought in 2005, brought down from England:

I wish I had taken photos in earlier years before I had a digital camera of the ones I made as gifts. They had the layer of marzipan, then royal icing, then red ribbons around the sides and holly sprigs on top. I went the whole way that year. They looked a little like this one, without the santa and house (but I think I did add some silver bells):

Weddings always used to have these cakes in several layers. They would be cut and put into tiny white boxes with the printed names of the bride and groom and the date of the ceremony, for the guests to take home, apart from the pieces they ate at the wedding. I always remember cracking my teeth on that hard royal icing, but loved it when I got down to the marzipan!
Now they use fondant instead of royal, but I see some are now serving cupcakes for weddings instead of the traditional cake.
(I much prefer fruitcake and think cupcakes are okay for kids' birthday parties, but not suitable for a special occasion such a wedding.)

SharonCb

I usually made mine in mid October. Then they were wrapped in brandy-soaked cloths and put in deep heavy-lidded porcelain containers. The cloths were sprinkled every couple of weeks with more brandy and by the time Christmas rolled around, the cakes were highly fragrant and so very (hic) good!

I remember my grandmother did them the same way.

SharonCb

I'm another who really does love good fruitcake. Light, Dark and also chocolate!

IMHO it's the mass market cheap fruitcakes that gave fruitcake a bad name. Fruitcake was a good thing back in the day when everyone made their own.

Nancy

After the nuclear war, two things will remain: cockroaches and fruitcake....

I like fruitcake as long as it is made without raisins.

CHOCOLATE fruitcake!!!!! Tell us about it please. Do you have a recipe?

Lee

Nope, you lost me on the candied fruit, I just detest the stuff. I like the ones with dried fruit, though.

Grandma always made the Christmas fruitcake on Thanksgiving weekend, and "brushed" it liberally with blackberry brandy on a regular basis until it was served at Christmas. No icing though, that intrigues me too. I will plead guilty to mixing flavored brandy with confectioners sugar and drizzling a bit on top of the batter baked in mini muffin pans. Just enough to "glue" on a pecan half, they were very pretty.

I have her old recipe, entrusted to me when she lost her eyesight from a detached retina. She handed it to me and said "now you have to make the fruitcake". I never ate the stuff but I made it faithfully for years, even after she died. She was a complete tee-totaler but just loved that brandied fruitcake, LOL. I'll try to dig the recipe up and post it.

Annie

This is a good recipe for the fruitcake that I bake every year. It's almost time, because I like to let it soak in bourbon for many weeks before Christmas.

From the Tampa Tribune (reprinted every year since I've been baking - 40 years, at least.)

MRS. HARVEY'S WHITE FRUITCAKE

4 cups pecans

3/4 pound candied cherries

1 pound candied pineapple

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

5 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 to 1 ounce vanilla

1/2 to 1 ounce lemon extract

Chop pecans, cherries and pineapple into medium-size pieces; dredge with a small amount of flour. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add well-beaten eggs and blend well. Sift together remaining flour and baking powder; fold into egg and butter mixture. Add vanilla and lemon extracts; mix well. Add fruits and nuts, blending well.

Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Line with heavy brown paper and grease again. Turn batter into pan. Place pan in cold oven. Turn oven on to 250 degrees F and bake cake 3 hours. Cool in pan on cake rack. Makes 1 (10-inch) tube cake.

NOTE: Batter also may be baked in 2 (9x5x3-inch) loaf pans for 2 1/2 hours.

I was just reading a fruitcake recipe this morning that intrigues me. I plan to try it. No candied fruit and it uses cheese and port wine:

English Cheese and Port Wine Fruitcake

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
8 oz. Wensleydale with Cranberries, chilled (Dairy Crest)
8 oz. White Stilton with Tangy Lemon, chilled (Dairy Crest)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup currants
1 cup port wine
4 Tbs butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350; grease 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 metal loaf pan. In a small bowl, stir together flour and baking soda; set aside.

Using about 2 oz of each cheese, crumble into large pieces to equal 1/2 cup of each. Refrigerate along with remaining cheese.

Place sugar, dates, cherries and currants in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over low heat, bring port and butter to a simmer. Pour over fruit and stir well. Cool completely to room temperature.

When mixture is cool, stir in eggs until well blended. Add flour mixture and stir just until blended (batter may look lumpy). Gently stir in walnuts and crumbled cheese; do not over mix.

Turn into pan and bake 30 minutes; cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning and bake an additional 10 - 15 minutes or until cake begins to pull from sides of pan. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes; turn out and cool completely.
For best results, wrap and chill before slicing. To serve, bring cake slices to room temperature and serve with remaining cheese and port wine if desired.

NOTE: You may substitute Wensleydale with Blueberries and Stilton with Apricots cheeses.

Annie'71

While I like fruit cake, that seems like a waste of Stilton!

Those ingredients do sound good. I wonder if you could do a riff off the old Time-Life Cream Cheese Poundcake with cranberries, dates, cherries, currants, some candied lemon or zest? Right now that sounds really good to me.

I see at the bottom they mention apricot cheese. IIRC, Costco sometimes sells one.

(Wensleydale and Stilton here go directly from board to lips, LOL.)

My light fruitcake calls for 1 pound butter, 2 cups of sugar, 10 eggs to 4 cups of flour. Last time I used glace apricots, glace pineapple and pecans in the batter. I'm thinking next time I might also include dates and sultanas.

Carol

Lee and anyone else that likes chocolate... :))

Here's the basic recipe:

Judy Rosenberg'S Chocolate Fruitcake
Yield: 1 Cake

Ingredients

2 c chopped mixed dried fruits,
such as -- apricots, figs,
dates, prunes, pears &
raisins or dried cherries
6 tb grand marnier or other orange liqueur
2 tb cognac
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c +1 t AP flour
1/2 ts baking powder
8 tb (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c sugar
3 lg eggs -- at room temperature
1/2 c chopped walnuts, almonds or
pecans
1/4 c cognac for brushing the
cake

Instructions

1. Combine the dried fruits, Grand Marnier, and Cognac in a small bowl or
container and allow it to sit, covered, for 24 hrs. Toss the fruits
occasionally to ensure they are completely saturated.
2. The next day, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering water.
Let it cool.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-1/2 x 5-1/2 x 2 inch baking pan with a piece of greased wax paper that overhangs both long sides of the pan by 2 inches.
4. Sift together the flour and baking powder
in a small bowl and set aside.
5. Beat the butter and sugar in a
medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on med speed until light and
fluffy, about 2 minutes.
6. Add the chocolate to the butter mixture and
beat on med speed until completely blended, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
7. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix on low
speed after each addition for 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl each time.
Increase the speed to medium and mix 15 seconds longer.
8. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until blended, about 8 seconds. Scrape the bowl.
9. Stir in the fruit (and any remaining liquid) and the nuts by hand with a wooden spoon.
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake
on the center oven rack until a tester inserted in the center comes out with a moist crumb, 1 to 1-1/4 hours. Note: Do not overbake
11. Allow the cake to cool in the pan .before removing it. Remove the paper.
12. Brush some of the Cognac over all surfaces of the cake. Wrap the cake in cheesecloth or a light cotton cloth
and brush the cloth with the Cognac.
13. Place the cake in a container or Ziploc bag and refrigerate it. If you plan to keep it for several weeks or
months, brush it with more Cognac when the cloth is dry. Yield: 12 to 14 Servings.

Note: I also stirred in about 1 cup of broken semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Nancy

I like fruitcake but don't like the booze. Are there any alternatives to brandy et al when soaking a fruitcake? I'd love to make my own. Right now, I just buy a small one at a local bakery.

Bean there:
See what you started !!!!!

Sharon: That Cake looks great, too bad you can't have any now .

Nashvillegirl :
Could I have a drink of your Fruitcake.
Lou

I don't soak my light fruitcake, although with the fruits alone I have had people ask me what liqueur I used. It's perfectly possible to make a very good fruitcake without basting. A rich recipe doesn't require it and the cakes will keep very well in the freezer.

Many years ago I made a steamed light fruitcake basted with pineapple juice. It was quite good. However, its keeping qualities were reduced and long-term it required refrigeration.

Just a reminder for those not aware, if you baste your fruitcake with liqueur, don't wrap it with aluminum foil. It will eat through the wrapping.

Carol

My grandmother never "marinated" her fruit cakes. They were delicious on their own. I didn't have a boozy one until recently. Liked it even more!

For a "non home made" fruit cake, those at Collins St. bakery are mostly OK...
But I had one of their "Easter fruit cakes" once....absolutely wonderful...more cake than the others, lots of pecans and rum...
anyone have a recipe for something like that?

Here is a link that might be useful: pineapple pecan cake

Oooh Nancy, that sounds very good to me. I love fruitcake but haven't made any in quite a few years. This may just be the year to start again with your chocolate one. I think I would like dried cherries, apricots and candied orange peel.

Thank you for sharing.

Lee

I just order mine from the monks--it's so much easier!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gethsemani Farms

Linda, is the pineapple candied? That sounds yummy.

No recipe here, just wanted to chime in and say I too love a good, dark fruitcake packed with nuts and dried fruits. No cakey ones and preferably no green candied stuff.

Some of the recipes here sound really good so I'm thinking I'm going to make one for this Christmas. Never had one with booze in it.

It's been awhile since I've made Christmas cake, since no one else around here likes it and I can't (or shouldn't) eat it all myself. This is my fav recipe. I got it from my aunt's neighbour and made it for my wedding cake 27+ yrs ago.

Murt's Christmas Cake

1/2 lb butter
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
3 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb sultana raisins
1 lb glazed cherries
1/4 lb blanched almonds
1 tin crushed pineapple (including juice)

Mix cherries, raisins, and almonds and dredge with an additional cup of flour.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add sifted flour, BP, & salt. Stir in pineapple, fruits & nuts.

Put batter into pans that have been lined with 2-3 layers of brown paper, then waxed paper. Cut paper to fit pans neatly. Recipe will fill 3 pans of graduated sizes if they aren't filed more than 2/3 full.

Bake at 300F for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. This is a very moist cake so make sure it is well cooked.

This is my very favorite fruit cake!

Carrot Fruit Cake

12-16 Servings Prep: 20 min. Bake: 1 hour 20 min. + cooling
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups chopped nuts
1 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup raisins
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups canola oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups finely shredded carrots
Confectioners' sugar icing, optional
Directions
Combine nuts, fruit, dates and raisins with 1/2 cup flour; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and remaining flour; gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until smooth. (Batter will be stiff.) Fold in carrots and fruit mixture. Spoon into a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, drizzle with icing. Yield: 12-16 servings.

Sue

canarybird,

Is there a place where your cake can be ordered?? The one in the photo is making me drooooolllllllllllll.........

DL

DL the cake in the top photo was purchased from a British import shop here in Tenerife. I don't remember the brand but I'll try and look it up and get back to you here. Most British Christmas cakes are iced in this way, with the marzipan layer under the icing. The cake was very moist and rich, just as it looks!

SharonCb

Dancinglemons....

Here is a store which has some of these iced Christmas cakes, and they say they deliver worldwide. Some of the cakes are just top iced so read the description if you want an all around iced one which includes the layer of marzipan. Good Luck

SharonCb

The iced fruitcake looks like something I might have to try this year. As long as it's dark, full of fruit & nuts with not much cake, how can it be anything but delicious?

This is my favorite recipe for a dark fruitcake. Over the years, I've substituted all kinds of fruits & nuts & it always turn out great. Maybe the rum helps!

RUM CROCK FRUITCAKE

Makes 1 Bundt (+ 1 mini loaf pan) or 2 3x5x9 loaf cakes

1 lb dried currants
1 lb dark raisins
½ lb golden raisins
½ lb citron or dried fruit
1 C filberts or almonds or figs
½ lb chopped dates (or pecan halves)
1 C dried or candied cherries (dried cranberries work just as well)
½ C candied citrus peel
3 C (a fifth) of Dark Rum (cheap is okay, but it needs to be dark)
----------------------------
½ lb sweet butter, softened
2 C packed dark brown sugar
5 large eggs
2 C flour
2 t. baking powder
---------------------------
Grind enough whole spices to make these quantities, mix & set aside:
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ground cinnamon
½ t. ground nutmeg
1 t. ground allspice
½ t. ground mace

Mix all the fruits & nuts together in a crock or a ceramic or glass bowl. Stir in the rum (adding more, if needed, to cover), & let stand, loosely covered, in a cool place for at least 3 weeks. (A day or 2 has always been okay for me.)

When you are ready to prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 275 F. & place a large shallow pan of water on a lower rack. Prepare pans by greasing, lining with brown paper or parchment, & greasing lightly again. Drain the contents of the rum crock (discard the rum or use in another batch of marinade if making additional fruitcakes) & set aside.

Cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy & stir in eggs, one at a time, blending well. Sift together the flour, baking powder & spices. Sift half of the flour into the butter mixture, mixing well. Gradually add the fruits/nuts, alternating with the remaining flour mixture & blending thoroughly.

Put batter into pans & bake for about 2 ½ hours (more for a bundt pan) or until a cake tester comes out clean & the edges shrink from the pan. Cover the cake lightly with pieces of foil if it browns too quickly (usually after 1 ½ hours).

Remove the cake & cool in pan for about 1 hour. Turn onto a cake rack & remove the paper. When the cake has cooled, wrap in foil & store in an airtight container to age for at least 1 month before serving.
(Its also excellent after 1 week of aging as DH is too impatient to wait longer).

canarybird,

Thanks!! We have a British market in town and I am going to call them Monday to ask about this type fruitcake. It looks sooooooooo good!!

DL

I love, love, love a dark fruitcake but I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion about whether or not I can substitute the brown paper with parchment paper? Or any other ideas???

Yes, do sub parchment for the brown paper. People used to cut up paper bags, but they're recycled now and no longer recommended for any oven use. The recycled product has chemicals and possible metal fragments that aren't foodsafe.

I have a T&T family fruitcake recipe, but this year I'm trying a tropical fruitcake from King Arthur with powdered coconut and rum-soaked dried pineapple. Tomorrow I bake.

Carol

Apricot Fruit Cake

2 1/2 package(s) (6 ounce) dried apricot halves, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cup(s) pecans, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup(s) pecan halves
1 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour, plus 2 cups for every tablespoon
1 1/4 cup(s) sugar
1 cup(s) butter or margarine
5 large eggs
1/2 cup(s) brandy
1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract
2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1/3 cup(s) apricot preserves, melted and strained

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 9-inch tube pan.
In medium bowl, toss apricots and 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans with 1 tablespoon flour; set aside.
In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and margarine or butter until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula.
With mixer at low speed, add eggs, brandy, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, and 2 cups flour; beat until well blended. Stir in apricot mixture.
Spoon batter into pan. Arrange pecan halves on top of batter in 2 concentric circles. Bake cake 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes until wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool cake in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. With knife, loosen cake from pan; remove cake. Cool completely on wire rack.
When cold, brush cake with melted apricot preserves. Or, wrap and refrigerate it for up to 1 week, then brush with preserves before serving.

I plan to make this one this year.

Sue

I do love fruitcake, but as some others, I hate the glaceed or candied fruit. My favorite fruitcake actually includes cake and pudding mixes. I guess you couldn't call it from "scratch", but it takes a good long while to make, as it is one of those "friendship" type cakes. At times, I have not given away any of the starter, but used it to make loads of this cake and freeze it (it freezes very well). And often I add coconut to the mix and change up the nuts for cashews or macadamias (my personal favorite).

Friendship Cake (with starter)

Starter :

3/4 cup drained peach chunks
3/4 cup drained pineapple
6 maraschino cherries, halved
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package active dry yeast

1. Combine ingredients and place in a large glass jar with a loose cover at room temperature.

2. Stir several times the first day, once a day thereafter for 14 days. The starter will have fermented enough to start Friendship Cake Mix.

Friendship Cake Mix:

1 1/2 cups Starter
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 (32-ounce) can sliced peaches with juice

1. Place into a gallon jar. Stir once a day for 10 days. Keep covered and at room temperature.

On 10th day add:
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 (32-ounce) can chunk pineapple with juice

1. Stir once a day for 10 days.

On 20th day add:
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 (10-ounce) jar maraschino cherries
1 (32-ounce) can fruit cocktail with juice

1. Stir once a day for 10 days.

On 30th day:
1. Drain juice from fruit. Divide juice into 5 or 6 jars of 1 1/2 cups juice each and give to friend(s).

2. Divide the fruit into 3 equal parts. You will have enough to make 3 cakes.

Friendship Cake Mix Recipe:

1 (18.25-ounce) package yellow cake mix (not pudding cake)
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (4-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup chopped nuts
1/3 of the fruit (2 cups)

1. Combine with an electric mixer all ingredients and bake in greased and floured tube or Bundt pan at 350*F (175*C) for 50 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

2. Cool on wire rack in pan 15 minutes before removing.

I really like this one, but I have to use candied fruit nasties for my dad--he'll eat that stuff out of the tub if he can.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rex's fruitcake

I confess, I buy my fruitcake, but it is very good. I've made them, and tasted others, but this one is very balanced. It's from Gethesemeni Farms, trappist monks from Trappist KY make it. It also has a touch of Bourbon in it. It got excellent rating from many newspapers and magazines. If someone knows a close recipe, please let me know. I would love to be able to duplicate it.

They make fudge, and cheeses as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: A review