This past Christmas I delved into the world of the fruitcake. I know, I know – what is an apparently sane woman doing baking fruitcakes? You see, I remember a time when they actually tasted good. My grandmother made a pretty tasty one, but the recipe I came across last year far surpasses hers.
Having an ornery streak, and inspired by La Cuisine’s fruitcake challenge (owner Nancy Pollard “has been conducting a one-woman crusade to revive the fruitcake”), I refused to accept that they all tasted as bad as they looked. I tried one recipe in the late Richard Sax’s wonderful tome, Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World
Ojakangas, like Sax, provides several fruitcake recipes, and I chose the one for Old English Fruitcake, which she refers to as “my very favorite fruitcake.” The recipe makes a whopping 12 one-pound loaves, so I tweaked it a bit. I cut all of the ingredients in half except for the liquids and the citrus zests. I also let the dried fruit soak in the rum and coffee for a full ten days before baking the cake, and chose the ones that my family likes.
After the cakes had cooled, I took a little nibble and thought that I’d made a mistake by not halving the zest and the orange juice – the orange flavor was very powerful. But fruitcakes are not meant to be eaten on the day that they are made, so I took another little nibble a couple days later, and the flavor change was dramatic. The orange flavor had melded with the rest of the cake, and provided a brightness that most modern fruitcakes lack. It was a big hit with my family, and I plan on making it again this year. In fact, Ojakangas recommends making it a year ahead! More after the break . . .
continue reading "A Tale of Two Fruitcakes"
