Dark brown sugar and molasses? I don't make it or like it really. My MIL makes it every years as did her mother. One dense little loaf, a sliver at a time, will keep a family content for weeks.

I have considered making one for her, my MIL, as she is deep in packing for a move to a smaller place being alone now.

I know it is important for it to have some 'loft' and not too soggy. I've not had what one would a call a good one to compare so I'm not much help. But Martha seems to know her fruitcake and has a recipe on-line.

The ingredients are expensive so I would cut the recipe down if attempting any recipe. I have mini loaf pans I use for seed and sprouted grain breads so if I give it a try I will use one of those. I have a ton of nuts and dried fruits in the freezer from my trees I dehydrated and misc other ingredients so I might try one.

The Aronowitz Fruitcake (recipe easily Googled) is divine. Dates, pecans, candied pineapple & cherries and no candied citron, which is my chief objection to most fruitcake. It's definitely a dark fruitcake (all those dates.)

Aronowitz Fruitcake

English fruitcakes are supposed to be both edible and delicious. I've never had one, but your recipe looks promising.

From Google I've learned that flaked almonds are sliced blanched almonds. I'd buy them sliced. The ones with the skins on may be easier to find. I'd guess ground almond is what we'd call almond meal, but that's a guess. Some people call it almond flour. Others mean something finer when they say almond flour. Either should work, though the texture might be different.

My question is what is mixed spice? I've found references to it that make it sound like bakery sweepings. :) Or that ubiquitous, anonymous "pumpkin pie spice" but probably not so nutmeggy. -- Duh. Wikipedia knows. It's apparently documented to almost 200 years ago. Typically contains cinnamon or cassia, nutmeg, allspice and may contain any of cloves, ginger, coriander, carraway and (historically) cayenne. (not quite a quote of Wikipedia). You can probably buy it in a single jar, but you could easily make your own as well and taste test it for the balance you prefer.

The citrus sounds like a good brightener from the heavy, boozy, sugary flavor that I associate with fruitcake.

I agree that molasses, whether in brown sugar or as liquid (treacle) is probably what makes it "dark" and gives it a distinctive flavor. I love molasses. Perhaps dip a bit of plain cake (or doughnut or muffin) into a bit of molasses on a spoon and ask your husband if that's the taste he's after.

I notice none of the fruits are candied, though all are dried. I bet I'd even like this an I hate typical fruitcake. :) This is more like a bran muffin sans bran. :) It actually sounds very good.

There's another kind of fruitcake I've only heard of rather than eaten that is made with fresh fruit that is poached and semi-dried or something. Not like dried fruit, but not runny like when you put uncooked fruit in. I think all the booze is in the cooking of the fruit.

So...how much does your s-i-l like you? Do you think she'd be able to talk you through making one? Even if you only had the list of ingredients and processes, we could probably help you make it into a proper recipe, maybe with a tester or three.

I don't know the difference either, and I dislike fruitcake, although that recipe with dried fruit in place of the candied fruit, which I don't care for.

A few years before she died, Grandma gave me her recipe and told me that it would be my job to make the fruitcakes from then on. Dad and Grandma both loved them, so I baked them. When Grandma died, I kept baking them. When Dad died, I quit, and no one has complained about the lack of fruitcake, LOL.

Now I'm wondering, though, what the difference is.

Annie

sleevendog - I'm laughing about the little cakes and the slivers. DH tries to make fruitcake last as long as possible. Sometimes he gets a 5 lb fruitcake to last until Valentine's. The BBC recipe calls for a 20 cm round cake pan (~8").

Annie, does Grandma's recipe have molasses and/or dark brown sugar in it? Could you share?

Pillog, if SlL wasn't still mad about her parents' will, she might still be making fruitcake for her brother! After 10 years, I doubt she'll start baking for him again.

Plllog, mixed spice is an English thing. I've seen it listed in several recipes on British cooking sites.

Supposedly you can substitute pumpkin pie spice but true 'mixed spice' has more ingredients than our standard pumpkin pie spice does. The coriander is what makes is sound interesting to me. I want to make it sometime but don't have mace and can never remember to buy some.

Here is a recipe for making your own mixed spice:

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. ground nutmeg

1 T. ground allspice

2 t. ground mace

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. ground ginger

1 t. ground coriander

Ci_lantros recipe is right for the mixed spice. British Xmas cake is very dense, fruity and boozy. It will keep for a long time. You need to make It, then dose it regularly with brandy and wait for it to mature before you eat it. Delicious.

Ooops. Did I leave out the "English" part? There's a company called something like Boston Spice Company that makes mixed spice called The British Are Coming. :D

I love, love, love good fruitcake. It's like okra. You're either in or you're out. Before she died, my aunt gave me the family recipe which is quite good if a bit non-specific. However, it makes a TON of fruitcake and, since I'm the only person I know who really likes the stuff, this is not a helpful thing for my waistline. The recipes Colleen and Suzanne posted sound interesting. I might play around a bit with those and the family recipe. And start exercising more immediately.

I've bought a monk fruitcake but I buy mine from Collin Street Bakery in Texas and have for YEARS. Yes, it is expensive $29, but then so is the fruit and stuff that you buy to MAKE one. And you just can't make one small fruitcake so you have more than you need and what do you do with those? I would just buy the one from the monks if he likes it and save yourself agony.

Reminds me I need to make some fruit cake if I want to have any for Christmas.
My recipe is very VERY dense fruit and nuts. in fact there is really no batter at all, you just sift flour sugar and spices together and mix with the fruit, then beat eggs and pour over all, stir pack into pans and bake....then drench with booze of your choice (I use brandy) wrap well and store.
And I have learned to sub some dried cranberries and some candied pineapple for some of the cherries...it's the total quantity of nuts and fruits that matters, not specific variety.

My recipe is very similar to Colleen's but makes a smaller amount. And it adds a couple of other, more British ingredients - marmalade and golden syrup (in place of the molasses) . And includes both brandy and sherry. This makes a very dark and dense fruit cake/Christmas cake that keeps indefinitely.....except that it was so popular with our family that it wouldn't last very long! I mix up the fruit as well as I dislike glacé cherries and usually replace with dried cranberries, apricots and some candied citron.

This was the wedding cake (decorated with marzipan icing) served at my sister's November wedding many years ago, The top layer was removed and frozen and was served at the christening of their first child.

Since it is just me now, I no longer make an entire fruitcake and just purchase a hunk from the local British import store :-) And pick out the cherries!

For $19 you can get him a small fruit cake at Collins Street.

Lindac's cake sounds like the Stained Glass Window cakes I also make at Christmas- It's whole candied red and green cherries, large chunks of candied pineapple, peaches, apricots, figs, and pears, whole stoned prunes, whole brazil nuts, pecans and almonds. The fruit is soaked overnight in brandy then it's all combined with a few tablespoons of flour sifted with mixed spice then stuck together with beaten eggs and sugar and baked to set. So it's like a big lump of candied fruit and nuts glued together. Then it is generously drizzled with more brandy. One sister in law particularly likes it :-)

Suzanne, mine does not have brown sugar, and when I looked it up, it's called "yellow" fruitcake, so I'm sure it's not what you're looking for. Here's an old thread, from 2005, so 12 years ago, and we were discussing fruitcake then too, LOL. There are several recipes on it and a couple look like they might be close to what you are looking for:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2573107/looking-for-a-good-fruitcake-recipe-please

Here's Grandma's anyway, in case anyone wants it. She always soaked hers with blackberry brandy, although she did not ever drink, LOL.

GRANDMA'S YELLOW FRUITCAKE

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup orange juice
9 eggs
1 lb. candied cherries, cut into halves
1 lb. golden raisins
2 cups candied pineapple, cut up (12 oz.)
2/3 cup candied citron, cut up (4 oz)
2/3 cup candied orange peel, cut up (4 oz)
3 1/2 cups nuts, your choice (we use a mix of walnuts, pecans, almonds and brazil nuts, you can use what you have or what you like)

Heat oven to 275F. Line 2 9x5 loaf pans with waxed paper, greased. Beat all ingredients except fruits and nuts in large bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, for 30 seconds. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 3 minutes. Mix batter into fruits and nuts in large bowl. Spread in pans.

Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean 2 1/2 to 3 hours. If necessary, cover with aluminum foil during last hour of baking to prevent excessive browning. Remove from pans, cool. Brush with brandy and wrap in several layers of cheesecloth or in aluminum foil. Brush cakes a couple of times per week until Christmas, being sure not to make them too "soggy". Store in the refrigerator.

Make sure to "test" the brandy before each use, it makes you happier. LOL That wasn't part of the recipe, it's my own personal addition. ;-)

Enjoy the fruitcake, no matter which one you like!

Annie