Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Fruitcake Gets Bum Rap






“Fruitcake Gets Bum Rap”-a quirky individual who gets shuttled off to jail on an imaginary charge.

No, not that kind of fruitcake. I would never use such a politically incorrect term to define someone who might resemble my Great-aunt Lizzie who made pies out of left-over jams and jellies. I’m referring to the type of cake made from candied fruits and nuts that some insist on baking or buying to give as Christmas gifts. You’ve heard Jay Leno make fun of a family tradition of giving this cake, where one recipient says, “Why, thank yew sooo much! I just love fruitcake.” Then that person proceeds in wrapping it anew and giving it to someone else. The same cake is passed around for years—and never deteriorates!

I, for one, really, really do love fruitcake. Admittedly, some are better than others, but even the cheap ones that come in a decorative tin and sold in your local discount store have something to offer. At Christmas parties, someone always contributes a plate of dark sliced fruitcake, perhaps a little dry, forlorn, skipped over by guests as they select a tidbit here, a morsel there. Me? I’ll take a piece of the cake every time.

My mother made an excellent fruit cake back in the fifties and sixties. She used the common candied cherries and pineapple and citron, sometimes dyed green, raisins, and lots of good old Texas pecans. She would buy a big sack of pecans as early as she could in the fall, and Daddy cracked every one and picked out the nutmeats. Fresh pecans make a big difference. Since we were teetotalers at home, Mother would tell Daddy to buy a bottle of whiskey—she said whiskey, but probably meant bourbon—when he next had to work over the state line in New Mexico. Most of the South Plains counties were “dry.” After soaking the 10-inch-tube-pan cake two weeks in the alcoholic beverage, let me tell you, that was a good fruitcake. I especially enjoyed it for breakfast with a hot cup of black coffee.

Years later, I found my own recipe for fruitcake. I’d like to share it with you.

BRANDY NUT CAKE

3 cups chopped Texas pecans
1 ½ cups halved maraschino cherries
1 cup dark raisins- ½ cup light raisins
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 Tbs. apricot brandy

½ cup apricot brandy, for soaking

Combine nuts and fruits. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add to nut mixture, tossing to coat well. Beat eggs till frothy; add the 2 Tbs. brandy. Pour egg mixture over fruit mixture; mix well. Pour batter into greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3 loaf dish or pan. Bake in 300 degree oven 1 hour and 45 minutes. (If you use a dark pan, perhaps lower the temperature a few degrees or test for doneness a few minutes early.)

When the cake cools, wrap in clean cheese-cloth. Dribble apricot Brandy over all sides until soaked. Wrap in aluminum foil. You may add more brandy later, if you wish. Store the cake at least a week.

Enjoy! And Merry Christmas.


Celia Yeary

SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK: eBook available at:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/


ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-a Cactus Rose—
Print and eBook available at: http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ http://www.celiayeary.com/

34 comments:

  1. As everyone has suspected, holiday fruitcakes really ARE dense enough to stop a speeding bullet. (With video.) Can a Fruitcake Stop a Bullet?

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  2. I've never learned to appreciate fruitcake, but by all accounts, I've never had a good one. Everyone I know who likes fruit cake had a mother or grandmother who made it from scratch, adding fruit as it came into season and soaking it in bourbon for up to six months.

    And OMG...it stops a bullet? That is just wild!

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  3. Tsk! I won't hear a word against it! I LOVE fruitcake, the richer, gooier and more brandy-fied the better. I mean, what other cake could you celebrate Christmas with - a Victoria sponge? Cupcakes? Yuk! Think how bland that would be! No sense of occasion!! Well said, Celia, and pass the cake!! ;-))

    Jane x

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  4. I love fruit cakes and because of my love for this..I get a lot around Christmas. They are not gifts..they are given because the receivers do not like it. It's my profit in the end. I copied your recipe down and want to try it for myself as it sure sounds good. thanks for sharing. susan L.

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  5. I agree about fruitcake. I love it.
    I love it so much I wrote it into my Christmas short, Christmas on Wherever Island and called it the Magic Christmas Cake. I put the recipe on my website. (Of course i'd use Arizona pecans!)
    Amber

    http://www.amberpolo.com/christmas.html

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  6. Nope, sorry, don't like fruitcake! We always had fruitcake at Christmas, my Nana used to make them, or buy them, or both, but they always fell like stone into my stomach and made me feel like a prisoner who'd swallowed his chain-ball-thingy (you know what I mean, right?!)!! What I like at Christmas is Italian Pandoro, or Panettone. Pandoro for breakfast, all light and fluffy. And Panettone with tea, or after dinner. Ooh, yes, and how about trifle??! My mother makes one worth sneaking into the fridge during the night!!!
    But it's ok, Celia, you can eat your fruitcake; don't mind me :)!

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  7. I love fruit cake. I remember my mother baking them the weekend after Thanksgiving. My mother didn't care for alcohol in the house but she had a jar of brandied peaches from WWII that she would ladle out the juice on those cakes once a week. It was heaven to get a slice on Christmas eve after Church services. We finally finished up the jar in 1985. Mom has since passed away and my folks won't eat fruit cake. But this blog brought back wonderful memories. Thank you.
    Nancy O

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  8. Celia--I love fruitcake. Last year I ate it almost by myself. Now you see why I loaded all these pounds. We buy it from Cotsco. I am saving your recipe. If I can gather enough energy I'll bake it for Christmas. For the kids. This year, I am watching my diet. Can't afford to put back the 15lbs I lost with such painstaking effort.
    I also love the Panettone and have for breakfast at Christmas time.

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  9. COLON--I don't know who you are, but...you made me laugh! Celia

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  10. KEENA--wasn't that video funny? It's okay if you don't like fruitcake--You're okay as you are. Celia

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  11. JANE--Oooooh, a love of fruitcake from Across the Pond!! Lov eyou, dear heart! Celia

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  12. SUSAN--ahhh, a FELLOW FRUITCAKE LOVER. Now, I must make mine--and I need to hurry! It's almost Christmas!Celia

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  13. AMBER--well, I've never heard of Arizona pecans, but I'll take your word for it! So, you really wrote a fruitcake into a story? That's just wonderful--good for you. Celia

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  14. FRANCESCA--That's okay! and those cakes you mention? Wow, I'd love to have any of those. You might say I just love cake--period. Thanks for the cheery note!! Celia

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  15. NANCY--oh, gosh, I'm laughing my head off. All these posts are so funny, but yours is priceless--a jar of brandied peaches from WWII that you finished in 1985???? Great response!! Celia

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  16. MONA--I'm sure I'd love that one from Cosco. There's a bakery here in Texas in Corscicana who specializes in Christmas fruitcakes. they make a fortune and ship them all over the world. Celia

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  17. It takes a special woman to LOVE fruitcame, and an excellent cook to make one. Enjoyed the blog, Celia!

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  18. Fruitcake is humanity's proof that we have a sense of humor ... or that we're all a bit evil inside. Why else would we pass so many around when no one (uh, almost no one) will eat it?

    Grandma decided to make it one year. I managed to force a piece down to be polite. Ugh. That proves how much I loved my grandma.

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  19. MAGGIE--I just don't understand why some people don't like fruitcake!!! Maybe I'll send you one of mine to change your mind. Love you--Celia

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  20. LORAINE--I swear--all of you are so funny! I didn't realize we had so many comediannes among us. Okay, I get the point--YOU DO NOT LIKE FRUITCAKE. However, perhaps you've never had a really good one! Celia

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  21. That sounds like one great fruitcake. I like it without the citron stuff. Gotta try this one.

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  22. MARY--I think that's why this is my favorite. The cherries aren't the candied kind, and no citron or glazed pineapple. Although I do eat fruitcake with those. My dh loves this one best because of so many pecans. Celia

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  23. I love fruitcake and I'm the only one in the family who does. Yeah! No sharing. I leave out the citron. It's best homemade, but we have a local bakery that does a very nice job as well.

    Laurel (whose A Wish in Time is a finalist in RT's Reviewer's Choice)

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  24. LAUREL--another fruitcake lover to add to our little private group. The others just don't know what they're missing.Thanks for stopping by--Celia

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  25. I love fruit cake. Granted my great grandmother's recipe produced a 10 lb. weapon heavy enough to knock a huge man cold. We children loved mam-ma's cake. She'd cut slits in the cake and wedge in slices of apple, wrap it cheesecloth and douse it in brandy. By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, the cake was really ripe. A few slices and we grandkids were happily sotted, so that we never heard Santa's Ho-Ho-Ho or the clatter of eight tiny reindeer on the roof after we were put to bed. Aah, the good ole days, but I think I'll try your recipe, Celia. Sounds yummy.

    www.lorettacrogersbooks.com

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  26. OH, LORETTA--you're witty and clever as always! Now, that's one good way to get the kiddies to bed on Christmas Eve. I'd love to taste that one. Have a Merry Christmas! Love you--Celia

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  27. I'm with Keena. It stops a bullet. ??? Weird. Must be the bourbon. LOL I say use more brandy!!!


    Huge prize: a cache of Time Guardian treasure. To enter, join me at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skhyemoncrief/.

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  28. SKYHE--yea! More brandy.I buy a small bottle of apricot brandy,use 1/2 cup, then...oh, what to do with the remainder?? Celia

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  29. I love fruitcake,and the gooyer the better. the more nuts and cherries - even better still. Rich Dundee fruit cakes are awesome but I'm going to try your recipe.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  30. I love the old-fashioned fruitcake. I baked them myself for years and never had anyone 'regift'. Thanks for the new recipe.

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  31. Looks like a great recipe, Celia. I too love fruitcake and have a recipe posted on my blog that uses apricot preserves, mollasses, pecans and walnuts along with all the fruit. It's wonderful for breakfast, especially with a dollup of cool whip. I haven't made it in several years as my brother and I are the only ones who really eat it and so a lot is left for me to consume. I'm not complaining, just don't need the calories.

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  32. SHERRY--I've heard of a Dundee fruitcake, but have never had one. I don't think I've ever seen them. I need to look--thanks--Celia

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  33. BARBARA--you're welcome for the recipe. I think there are a lot of fruitcake lovers who don't like to admit it. Celia

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  34. LINDA? See? You're my kind of gal--fruitcake for breakfast with cool whip--but give me real whipped cream, please, the thicker and richer the better.Celia

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