Standing still is a nuisance
I am extraordinarily tired, but I do not regret any of the fruitcakes for which ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rushthatspeaks and I chopped the traditional quantities of dried and candied fruit tonight, nor the Christmas tree that I got with my parents earlier in the evening, nor the bagel with sturgeon on it that I ate for lunch, which was indeed better with butter than with cream cheese. I spent a decent amount of the day moving around in the sunlight: I was particularly fond of the apricot-bronze of the late afternoon. I had onigiri and lemon cookies. I ran into someone I had hoped never to see again and was not recognized because I was masked at the time. I am three or four chapters into Dick Francis' Enquiry (1969) and feeling more than a little mentally AWOL, but it has been an objectively good day.
rushthatspeaks and I chopped the traditional quantities of dried and candied fruit tonight, nor the Christmas tree that I got with my parents earlier in the evening, nor the bagel with sturgeon on it that I ate for lunch, which was indeed better with butter than with cream cheese. I spent a decent amount of the day moving around in the sunlight: I was particularly fond of the apricot-bronze of the late afternoon. I had onigiri and lemon cookies. I ran into someone I had hoped never to see again and was not recognized because I was masked at the time. I am three or four chapters into Dick Francis' Enquiry (1969) and feeling more than a little mentally AWOL, but it has been an objectively good day.
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We normally make ours (and start the plum pudding) earlier, too, but welcome to 2021. I would be delighted to discuss fruitcake with you.
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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEe FRUITCAKE I wish I still had my fruitcake icon.
1) How did you get into fruitcakery? 2) Have you made EMily Dickinson's "Black Cake" fruitcake? 3) What recipe do you use? 4) Have you developed your own fruitcake recipe?
Preliminary answers from me:
1) I am a Jamaican, heir to the traditions of the Commonwealth. My mother's mother (who loved me unconditionally) was a very good cook; my father's mother (who worked hard to correct my fatness and unladylikeness. Very hard) was an excellent baker, and made fruitcakes for many people's weddings and other celebrations. The former helped teach me to cook; the latter wouldn't teach me, but let me watch her.
2) It's pretty nifty by itself, but I modified it by pureeing the prunes to make it fudgier and more like Jamaican-style fruitcake, and it was divine.
3) I have a couple, including my modified Emily's cake, a boiled ginger cake, and a chocolate fruitcake that works pretty well (you'd think the flavors would clash), but my favorite is...
4) I developed an All Rose Fruits fruitcake as a lark and I really love it. The rosehips make it special.
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*hugs you most gratefully*
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I grew up making fruitcakes with my mother. She made them with her mother. As far as I can tell, my grandmother adopted the practice for the fun of it, because there are no native Christmas traditions in my family, not even Chinese food and a movie—therefore the version of American Christmas with which my parents chose to raise me and my brother incorporates fruitcake, homemade eggnog, and plum pudding. We also make a Christmas roast when we can manage it. My grandmother used to make something called bishop's bread which my father still misses, but my mother never took over the baking of it and I don't remember it very well.
2) Have you made Emily Dickinson's "Black Cake" fruitcake?
No, but you make it sound very appealing, especially with the prunes!
3) What recipe do you use?
I believe it started life in Gourmet, but it has been heavily modified over the years based on availability of fruits and my family's preferences. This year it was primarily orange peel, apricots, sweet cherries, tart cherries, currants, and pineapple; usually there are prunes and figs and citron and lemon peel as well, but 2021. Everything gets soaked in brandy and orange juice and battered in the sense of being just flour-and-buttered enough to hold together and stay moist. We cut out the nuts years ago and the chocolate chips come and go. The plum pudding is a similar composition of fruits, but it steeps in rum and brandy for much longer—we actually managed to put it up on Tuesday so it will at least get more than a week—and gets boiled twice before being doused in brandy and set on fire on the day. I am extremely fond of the plum pudding.
4) Have you developed your own fruitcake recipe?
Accidentally! See above.
Speak to me of the All Rose Fruits Cake! You said "rosehips."
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Rose Family Fruitcake, halved
1/4 cup dried apples, diced
1/4 cup dried pears, diced
1/2 cup dried rosehips, seeds removed
1/4 cup sun dried cherries, chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup candied quince
Zest and juice of one lemon, grated finely (can be replaced by 1/4 cup more rosehips)
1/4 cup applejack
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup unfiltered apple juice
1/2 cup apple butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger (so that those who don’t like ginger can have some)
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch cloves
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
Applejack for basting and/or spritzing
Combine dried fruits, zest, juices, jam/preserves, sugar, butter, and spices in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, turn off and let cool. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients and sift into fruit mixture. Quickly bring batter together with a large wooden spoon, then stir in eggs one at a time until completely integrated.
Spoon into a 10-inch non-stick loaf pan (or any other pan you want to use; that's AB's boilerplate) and bake for 1 hour. (Or bake as rose-shaped cupcakes! 45 minutes) REMEMBER TO SPREAD BATTER FLAT AS IT DOES NOT FLATTEN
Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack or trivet. Let cool 10 minutes, turn out of pan, sprinkle with more applejack.
When cake is completely cooled, seal in a tight sealing, food safe container. Let age for a couple weeks, sprinkling with more applejack if necessary.
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That looks spectacular!
Do you have rosehips in your yard or where do you get them?
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Fortunately lots of people sell rosehips for tea & jam making, already split and seeds removed. I usually buy them off Etsy or Amazon.
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Also, I probably should have given you the properly sized recipe, ahaha