Can we talk fruit cake?

[helena]

Spinning off from a thread I started about baking with fruit and nuts, some folks mentioned fruit cake. 

 

Now, I'm so curious about this notorious dessert. 

 

Do you bake it? Like it? Love it?

Do you have funny childhood memories of fruit cake? My own kids laughed at the cake and had a few jokes.  :glare: They've never even had it!! Thanks Sponge Bob. :)

Would you be upset to receive one as a gift?

Are they still good if done without alcohol? In the ingredients I mean, not as a chaser  ;) .

 

And of course recipes! I'd have to convert the recipe to vegan, but I'd love to see your family favorites!

[Stacia]

I don't know any of the answers (don't think I've ever actually tried fruitcake except a small piece when I was a kid), so I'll be watching this thread because I'm curious. However, it does make me think of one of my favorite Christmas stories, Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. "It's fruitcake weather!" :laugh:

[helena]

I don't know any of the answers (don't think I've ever actually tried fruitcake except a small piece when I was a kid), so I'll be watching this thread because I'm curious. However, it does make me think of one of my favorite Christmas stories, Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory. "It's fruitcake weather!" :laugh:

I found an old version of the movie narrated by Capote.

be watching it for sure! 

[Arcadia]

I had plenty of fruit cakes growing up in SE Asia.  All my cousins and cousin's children had the traditional 3-tier wedding cake which is a fruit cake covered with generous amount of marzipan. Something like this recipe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/simple_two-tiered_04281

 

We also have fruit cake for Christmas just because everywhere is selling.  Something like the one in this Harrods picture

http://www.harrods.com/product/christmas-fruit-cake-1-3kg/harrods/000000000002887057

 

My mum also regularly buys me the fruit cake from Marks & Spencer because I love fruit cake and it looks like this link

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Fruit-White-Icing-Cutting-Cake/dp/B0016NI08E

 

I also like the traditional Christmas pudding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmaspudding_87598

[amyco]

I like fruitcake!  Especially when it's been aged in alcohol.  I've never gotten one as a gift but wouldn't mind...but I'd never give one, because so many people don't like it!  Having had a few genuine Christmas puddings made by British friends, I definitely prefer those now.  Especially when they light them on fire!!  Great fun. 

[helena]

I had plenty of fruit cakes growing up in SE Asia.  All my cousins and cousin's children had the traditional 3-tier wedding cake which is a fruit cake covered with generous amount of marzipan. Something like this recipe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/simple_two-tiered_04281

 

We also have fruit cake for Christmas just because everywhere is selling.  Something like the one in this Harrods picture

http://www.harrods.com/product/christmas-fruit-cake-1-3kg/harrods/000000000002887057

 

My mum also regularly buy the fruit cake from Marks & Spencer because I love fruit cake and it looks like this link

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Fruit-White-Icing-Cutting-Cake/dp/B0016NI08E

 

I also like the traditional Christmas pudding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmaspudding_87598

Those are beautiful! I've never seen a frosting on fruit cake. Have you had it with and without? Which do you prefer? 

[Snickerdoodle]

Can we talk fruit cake?

 

No.

[gardenmom5]

Spinning off from a thread I started about baking with fruit and nuts, some folks mentioned fruit cake. 

 

Now, I'm so curious about this notorious dessert. 

 

Do you bake it? Like it? Love it?

Do you have funny childhood memories of fruit cake? My own kids laughed at the cake and had a few jokes.  :glare: They've never even had it!! Thanks Sponge Bob. :)

Would you be upset to receive one as a gift?

Are they still good if done without alcohol? In the ingredients I mean, not as a chaser  ;) .

 

And of course recipes! I'd have to convert the recipe to vegan, but I'd love to see your family favorites!

I have a fruit cake recipe I make every year.  it's very popular, and even people who don't generally like fruit cake, like this one.  It has a bottle of lemon extract that is used prior to baking.  no steeping in booze.

I'm very picky about fruit cake - and this is the only one I've liked so far.

It has eggs and  butter.

I also absolutely adore a good panetonne.  it's an Italian Christmas bread with lots of fruit and is extremely rich.  I haven't found a good recipe yet, mostly because I'd rather use a bread machine.  I'm lazy.  I just buy it and we usually eat it on Christmas morning.  (though the kids wish i'd buy more so we could eat it other times too.)

 

generally it's citron I don't like.

[Onceuponatime]

Make fruit cake some winters. I usually just take a regular recipe from a cookbook and leave out the odd colored preservatived fruit. Instead I put in a can of well drained crushed pineapple, chopped dried apricots, raisins, dried cranberries, and lots of pecans.

[Arcadia]

Those are beautiful! I've never seen a frosting on fruit cake. Have you had it with and without? Which do you prefer? 

 

I find the marzipan layer too sweet but it is symbolic on a wedding cake so I just eat it all up.  For store bought, I would go for those without frosting.  My kids prefer with frosting though.

[Melissa in Australia]

We LOVE fruit cake. I make them regularly.

 Personally I love the rich dark fruit cakes, but they are very expensive to make. Mostly I make boiled fruit cake. it is quick and cheaper to make.

 You can substitute orange juice instead of alcohol but it doesn't taste the same.

If I get time later I will write out my recipes for both boiled fruit cake and rich fruit cake.

[Melinda in VT]

My husband announced about five years ago that he loves fruitcake. I looked at him like he was insane. (And thought it not entirely fair that he waited until 15 years into our marriage to reveal such a dubious attraction. Seems like that should have been disclosed before the wedding. :glare:)

 

I have memories of sitting in my grandparents' living room staring at a slice of dark fruitcake with neon fruit, dreading the fact that I had to eat it in order to be polite.

 

My husband insisted that my problem was that I'd never had good fruitcake. So he decided to make me one. Now, he makes them every year (although he is behind this year; the fruit is soaking in brandy but the cake has not yet been baked). According to him, the trick is to use real dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, apricots are his favorite), to soak the fruit in alcohol (sometimes he makes the cakes with rum and sometimes brandy), and to baste the cakes with alcohol about once a week.

 

If you don't want to go to all that effort, Bien Feit makes a great fruitcake, and Cavendish makes a good one. There is a trappist monastery in Oregon who used to make a good one, but the quality went downhill last year.

 

Fruitcake is still not my favorite way to spend calories, but I do enjoy a slice or two of really good fruitcake.

[AK_Mom4]

I am absolutely not a fan of fruitcakes with the strange candied fruit things in them.  Yuck!

 

Here is a light fruitcake recipe that is made with real fruit and is totally delicious!  I think converting it to vegan (even with an egg substitute) would be really easy and not affect the texture at all.

 

http://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/food_and_recipes/rethink-fruitcake-ditch-candy-colored-chunks-for-real-fruit-in/article_81c19d2a-9900-549f-baa5-3429a1f02358.html

 

[LostSurprise]

There are different kinds of fruitcake. Some is more like a lightly fruit-studded bread (julekage). Some is a dry, lightly fruit-studded cake (panettone, stollen). Some is dense and brown and intensely alcoholic (more English). 

 

I think most Americans think dense and brown and alcoholic, although the fruit breads and lighter cakes are quite good. I make Stollen or Julekage every year. If a person likes cinnamon raisin bread, they usually love it. 

[Renee in NC]

I didn't like fruitcake until I visited a fruitcake factory not far from here.  They made many other things as well, but the fruitcake was to DIE for!

 

http://www.southernsupreme.com/

[helena]

No.

:001_tt2:

[HollyDay]

The only fruit cake I like is Nigella Lawson's Chocolate fruit cake:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/chocolate-fruit-cake-recipe/index.html

 

It is amazing and a must have every Christmas!

[bettyandbob]

My mother used to make a traditional English fruitcake for Christmas. She'd make it early to mid autumn. And regularly pour brandy ( I think it was brandy) on it until the holiday. We had friends from England. The mother in that family made her cake much earlier in the year than my mom.

 

ETA I think it was sherry the cake was doused in.

[helena]

I won't be making one with alcohol, and I see that some are using orange juice instead... Is that right? Do I get to bathe it in OJ for months? :) That's the part that sounds fun to me. 

[zoobie]

I had plenty of fruit cakes growing up in SE Asia. All my cousins and cousin's children had the traditional 3-tier wedding cake which is a fruit cake covered with generous amount of marzipan. Something like this recipe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/simple_two-tiered_04281

 

We also have fruit cake for Christmas just because everywhere is selling. Something like the one in this Harrods picture

http://www.harrods.com/product/christmas-fruit-cake-1-3kg/harrods/000000000002887057

 

My mum also regularly buys me the fruit cake from Marks & Spencer because I love fruit cake and it looks like this link

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Fruit-White-Icing-Cutting-Cake/dp/B0016NI08E

 

I also like the traditional Christmas pudding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmaspudding_87598

Those look yummy! My grandmother made fruit cake bars with real dried fruit, not the fluorescent candied stuff. I cannot find her recipe though, and I have her recipe box and all of her cookbooks.

[mumto2]

Fruit cake is the cake normally served in the winter months in our part of England. Birthday cakes etc frequently turn out to be fruit cake. Love the cake detest the marzipan. They switch to Victoria Sponge in spring...yummy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/victoriasponge_13555

[Melissa in Australia]

OK

 here are two recipes.

 

 

Firstly boiled fruit cake. this one doesn't keep so long, and really is made to eat straight away;

12 oz mixed fruit

1/2 cup sherry

3/4 dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 cup self raising flour

1 cup plain flour

2 tablespoons marmalade (or apricot jam)

4 oz butter 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

1/2 cup water

method

place mixed fruit, sugar, spice water and butter in saucepan and bring to the boil. simmer gently for 3 minutes. remove from heat and add bicarbonate soda. allow to cool.

Add eggs, sherry and marmalade and mix will.

fold in sifted dry ingredients, place in a triple paper lined cake tin and bake in a moderately slow oven ( 160 oC) for 2 hours or until cooked. allow to cool in tin.

 

Rich fruit cake- this one costs lots more to make and takes a week.

 

Ingredients

8oz sultanas

8oz chopped raisins

4 oz currants

3oz chopped mixed peel

3 oz chopped glace cherries

3oz chopped blanched almonds ( walnuts can be used instead)

1/3 cup brandy or sherry

8oz plain flour

2oz self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2  teaspoon ground ginger

1/2  teaspoon ground cloves

8oz butter

8 oz dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon essence

1/2 teaspoon almond essence

1/2 vanilla essence

4 large eggs.

 

Method

mix together all fruit and nuts, sprinkle with brandy and leave to soak for a minimum of overnight, thought you can leave it for up to a week.

sift together dry ingredients.

cream butter and sugar with essences. add eggs one at a time beat well.

add dry ingredients alternately with fruit. mix thoroughly. the mix should be stiff enough to support a wooden spoon.

line cake tin with 3 layers of heavy paper. add cake mix. smooth top of mix.

 bake in a slow oven for 3 1/2 - 4 hours.

when cooked remove from oven, leave in tin and wrap with towels. leave overnight in tin before removing. wrap cake in paper then foil and leave for a few weeks before eating or decorating.

 

 

 

[bettyandbob]

I won't be making one with alcohol, and I see that some are using orange juice instead... Is that right? Do I get to bathe it in OJ for months? :) That's the part that sounds fun to me.

I think that would just get moldy. I think if you aren't bathing it in alcohol then you can't have it sitting out months ahead.

[Melissa in Australia]

I think that would just get moldy. I think if you aren't bathing it in alcohol then you can't have it sitting out months ahead.

:iagree:

I was the one that suggested orange juice. If you use orange juice you will need to eat it in a very short amount of time- like a week or so.

The alcohol is the thing that helps preserve the cake.

[Laura Corin]

I didn't grow up hearing fruit cake jokes, but husband (in Texas) did.  I wonder whether the US doesn't have the tradition of a really moist, alcoholic fruit cake. 

 

I'm not keen on marzipan, but I love hard icing.

 

L

[Kathryn]

Not that I'm ever going to make this, but what is a "slow oven?"

[Laura Corin]

Not that I'm ever going to make this, but what is a "slow oven?"

 

It just means a low temperature.

 

L

[gardenmom5]

There are different kinds of fruitcake. Some is a dry, lightly fruit-studded cake (panettone, stollen). 

 

I think most Americans think dense and brown and alcoholic, although the fruit breads and lighter cakes are quite good. I make Stollen or Julekage every year. If a person likes cinnamon raisin bread, they usually love it. 

I've never considered panettone or stollen 'cake like', more like a rich (VERY rich) croissant type bread.  (without all the layering with butter).    while I make a 'dense, hard but somewhat moist' (and expensive to make, though cheaper than those that use brandy) fruit cake for thanksgiving, panettone is becoming a Christmas tradition.  my kids would be happy to eat from the time it first shows up in the stores as long as they can get it.

[Melissa in Australia]

Not that I'm ever going to make this, but what is a "slow oven?"

Slow oven is between 140 -150 oC

[Orthodox6]

A genuine, old-country fruitcake might pass muster with me. The U.S. version, however, is loathsome. Every Christmas, someone would send my parents a revolting fruitcake from the infamous Collin Street Bakery of Corsicana, Texas. Studded with glow-in-the-dark, lurid green and red plastic-textured cherries and other fearsome dead fruits, hedged round by sharpened fragments of age-toughened nuts, only the veins of smelly dark brown cake were minimally tolerable. I still shudder at the memories.

[Orthodox6]

DP

[LostSurprise]

I've never considered panettone or stollen 'cake like', more like a rich (VERY rich) croissant type bread.  (without all the layering with butter).    while I make a 'dense, hard but somewhat moist' (and expensive to make, though cheaper than those that use brandy) fruit cake for thanksgiving, panettone is becoming a Christmas tradition.  my kids would be happy to eat from the time it first shows up in the stores as long as they can get it.

 

Its a continuum, not a black or white issue. Panettone are considered more bread-like (they contain less sugar and more flour and the holey interior one associates with bread) and stollen more cake-like (more sugar, less flour). However, I've seen panettone recipes that were more cake-like and stollen which were more bread-like. That's why I referred to them as dry, light, and 'cake-like.' They usually have a bit more heft to them (even if its slight) than something Julekage or cinnamon raisin bread. 

 

Neither panettone and stollen are like croissants. Croissants are very layered and fall more within pastry than bread. I think you mean an enriched bread (like challah or even brioche)? 

 

Either way, I agree that its a wonderful tradition! I love making stollen and Julekage and I'd love to try my hand at panettone some day. :)

[Jenn121]

I did not like fruitcake growing up. Neon bits of hard stuff getting stuck in my teeth but then I found this fruit cake form Alton Brown on Good Eats. My whole family loves it!

 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/free-range-fruitcake-recipe/index.html

 

[LucyStoner]

A good fruit cake is hard to find in the US, Laura.  Mostly it's this strange, dry as a desert yet oddly chewy concoction where the "fruit" are little gelatinous bits of neon green and red unidentified supposedly fruit like objects.  If people had real fruit cake, it wouldn't be the joke that it is over here.  

[helena]

A genuine, old-country fruitcake might pass muster with me. The U.S. version, however, is loathsome. Every Christmas, someone would send my parents a revolting fruitcake from the infamous Collin Street Bakery of Corsicana, Texas. Studded with glow-in-the-dark, lurid green and red plastic-textured cherries and other fearsome dead fruits, hedged round by sharpened fragments of age-toughened nuts, only the veins of smelly dark brown cake were minimally tolerable. I still shudder at the memories.

 

Ooo. Poetic disdain. You make it sound beautiful and gross at the same time.  :laugh:

[Laura Corin]

A good fruit cake is hard to find in the US, Laura.  Mostly it's this strange, dry as a desert yet oddly chewy concoction where the "fruit" are little gelatinous bits of neon green and red unidentified supposedly fruit like objects.  If people had real fruit cake, it wouldn't be the joke that it is over here.  

 

Ah.  Ok.  I can understand the jokes then.

 

L

[Kathryn]

A good fruit cake is hard to find in the US, Laura. Mostly it's this strange, dry as a desert yet oddly chewy concoction where the "fruit" are little gelatinous bits of neon green and red unidentified supposedly fruit like objects. If people had real fruit cake, it wouldn't be the joke that it is over here.

Yep, I've never seen one in person, but this is the kind of thing I always saw on TV with the fruitcake joke:

[helena]

Yep, I've never seen one in person, but this is the kind of thing I always saw on TV with the fruitcake joke:

 

 

Eww, that's it. Those look especially awful.

 

It's interesting to read about more natural, traditional, yummy versions. I'm feeling very tempted to play with the recipes over Thanksgiving vacation. I guess I don't have to start early since I'm not using alcohol. 

We shop at a local Sicilian market and always see the Panettone bread in its big glorious box. My family is vegan though, so that's out. I think it has a lot of eggs in it, which makes it harder to convert the recipe. 

 

Thanks everyone!