This is the one my mom and grandma made for many years. A buttery cake filled with the traditional candied fruit and nuts. Then it's wrapped in brandy soaked cheesecloth for a few weeks.
Making Holiday Fruitcake
- Thread starter kevin313
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norgeway
Well-known member
I could eat!
A whole fruitcake by myself!
A whole fruitcake by myself!
My mom always made Fruitcake Cupcakes at Christmas. They were OK, but always preferred the other treats she made - such as cookies.
whirlcool
Well-known member
I have always enjoyed fruitcake as well. Usually with a cup of hot tea (unsweetened) to offset the sweetness.
But every Christmas you always hear groans from the multitudes that make fun of it or just complain about how much they don't like it. There is an annual Fruit Cake throw somewhere. Personally, I don't think it's as bad as some of these people make it out to be.
We just picked up our annual Christmas Pudding from the local British Market. In our house it's a tradition to have it Christmas morning, served with a nice port wine. Now some people REALLY don't like that!
But every Christmas you always hear groans from the multitudes that make fun of it or just complain about how much they don't like it. There is an annual Fruit Cake throw somewhere. Personally, I don't think it's as bad as some of these people make it out to be.
We just picked up our annual Christmas Pudding from the local British Market. In our house it's a tradition to have it Christmas morning, served with a nice port wine. Now some people REALLY don't like that!
twintubdexter
Well-known member
Fruitcake's fine in my book...
...and those in your video look delicious, but all that work wrapping and unwrapping and then wrapping again. I got[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt] wind[/COLOR][COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]ed just watching you. I honestly think they did less wrapping with King Tut. I'm sure the end result is worth the effort but with me between wrappings and mandatory taste-testing 4 cakes would end up looking like 4 cupcakes when finished. [/COLOR][COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]I'll bet those fruitcakes taste wonderful as soon as they come out of the oven.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]Fruitcakes share a bad rap with Brussels sprouts...[/COLOR]
...and those in your video look delicious, but all that work wrapping and unwrapping and then wrapping again. I got[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt] wind[/COLOR][COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]ed just watching you. I honestly think they did less wrapping with King Tut. I'm sure the end result is worth the effort but with me between wrappings and mandatory taste-testing 4 cakes would end up looking like 4 cupcakes when finished. [/COLOR][COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]I'll bet those fruitcakes taste wonderful as soon as they come out of the oven.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#008000; font-size: 12pt]Fruitcakes share a bad rap with Brussels sprouts...[/COLOR]
I too think that fruitcake is much maligned. I have always enjoyed it, but I don't care for fruitcake that has a lot of citron in it, I think that those kind of fruitcakes are the ones that have given fruitcake a bad rep with many. Personlly I prefer a dark fruitcake, but Kevin's fruitcake looks delcious. He uses all the right kinds of canidied fruits. My Grandmother used to make a chocolate fruitcake that was very good. She used cocoa powder and finely chopped prunes in it, along with the other candied fruits and nuts. She also added raisins, currents and used a little prune juice for the liquid. I don't have the exact recipe but I do recall these items from watching her.
Fruitcake really does need to age a bit to be at its best. Honestly, a freshly baked fruitcake is disappointing.
I think they’re best after a couple of months. Make them in October and serve them at Christmas, and you’ll be amazed at the flavor.
You can age them too much. I’ve read crazy recommendations about aging them for years like a fine wine, but clearly that is bad advice. I kept one for a year, just to see what happened, and I was disappointed.
I would say 3 weeks is a minimum curing time. I’ve served one after only two weeks, and it was noticeably less complex in flavor. I tucked it away for a couple more weeks, and the difference was amazing.
I will say, I’ve never gone to great lengths to wrap mine. I drop the cakes into glazed loaf pans, pour on some liquor, and cover them with plastic. I put the pans on a plate (since some of the liquor tends to wick over the edge), and keep them in a dark, cool place. I keep an eye on things, and re-wet if I think it’s necessary.
I think they’re best after a couple of months. Make them in October and serve them at Christmas, and you’ll be amazed at the flavor.
You can age them too much. I’ve read crazy recommendations about aging them for years like a fine wine, but clearly that is bad advice. I kept one for a year, just to see what happened, and I was disappointed.
I would say 3 weeks is a minimum curing time. I’ve served one after only two weeks, and it was noticeably less complex in flavor. I tucked it away for a couple more weeks, and the difference was amazing.
I will say, I’ve never gone to great lengths to wrap mine. I drop the cakes into glazed loaf pans, pour on some liquor, and cover them with plastic. I put the pans on a plate (since some of the liquor tends to wick over the edge), and keep them in a dark, cool place. I keep an eye on things, and re-wet if I think it’s necessary.
I would absolutely love the recipe for that chocolate-prune cake!
I wish that I had the recipe for my Grandma's chocolate fruitcake, but it left the world with her in 1973. I did however once come close to duplicating it. I simply used the recipe for dark fruitcake in the Betty Crocker cookbook, but added the cocoa powder, finely chopped prunes, raisins and currents along with the prune juice as I stated earlier. Of course I also added candied cherries, pineapple and a small amount of candied orange peel as well as walnuts and pecans. My Mom said that it was a pretty close copy of her Mom's recipe. And I agree with John, you absolutely have to age fruitcake for at least 2 to 3 weeks in order for it to have the correct moistness and rich flavor.[this post was last edited: 12/10/2014-03:03]
I love fruitcake and prefer dark over the light. The more fruit in it the better. I bought a small fruit cake at a local Christmas craft show a couple of weeks ago which I was intending to save for visitors during the holidays but it seems to have been eaten already 
Gary
Gary
Thanks Everyone
It has been tradition in our family that the fruitcakes are made at Thanksgiving, as if there weren't a million other things to cook at that time! But we often make them the day after Thanksgiving. This is usually about a month before Christmas, so it gives us four weeks to age the fruitcakes and give them a few good wrappings in the cheesecloth.
These will get served for the first time after Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas morning, I like to lightly toast a slice of the fruitcake and then spread butter over the top...this is my big Christmas treat as there are usually no presents waiting for me from Santa as I am typically on the "naughty" list.
Whether your holiday is filled with fruitcake(s) or not, I hope it's a wonderful season all y'all!
It has been tradition in our family that the fruitcakes are made at Thanksgiving, as if there weren't a million other things to cook at that time! But we often make them the day after Thanksgiving. This is usually about a month before Christmas, so it gives us four weeks to age the fruitcakes and give them a few good wrappings in the cheesecloth.
These will get served for the first time after Christmas Eve dinner. On Christmas morning, I like to lightly toast a slice of the fruitcake and then spread butter over the top...this is my big Christmas treat as there are usually no presents waiting for me from Santa as I am typically on the "naughty" list.
Whether your holiday is filled with fruitcake(s) or not, I hope it's a wonderful season all y'all!
pturo
New member
Fruitcake a Great Regift
There is this theory that there are only about a dozen fruitcakes in the world and people keep mailing them to each other.
There is this theory that there are only about a dozen fruitcakes in the world and people keep mailing them to each other.
Decades ago, the former drug store in our shopping center used to sell these small rectangular light fruit cakes. The yellow cake part had a mild flavor and it had no nuts, a plus for me. Needless to say, they were not baptized in spirits either, but to me, they tasted great; possibly because they did not taste like the traditional dark, spirit-soaked type. They were probably the KMART grade among real fruit cakes, but I enjoyed them.
vacerator
Well-known member
Jane Parker
fruit cakes the A&P sold were not bad at all.
fruit cakes the A&P sold were not bad at all.
Farmer Jack is another place that I'm sure might'a made good fruit cake, too; seemed to be the butt of all holiday food jokes...
I think my grandma didn't mind she was notorious for making that one thing NO ONE would eat except my dad who ate anything...!
-- Dave
I think my grandma didn't mind she was notorious for making that one thing NO ONE would eat except my dad who ate anything...!
-- Dave
michaelman2
Well-known member
A Georgia Fruit Cake Tradition :
This small town in South GA (Claxton) is on the map due to the Claxton Bakery and the jillions of fruit cakes they produce. They produce a decent cake and their website talks about a presence of the Claxton Fruit Cake at the 1964 and 1965 New York World's Fair.....
This small town in South GA (Claxton) is on the map due to the Claxton Bakery and the jillions of fruit cakes they produce. They produce a decent cake and their website talks about a presence of the Claxton Fruit Cake at the 1964 and 1965 New York World's Fair.....
