Yuletide with Cog #9: Fruit Cake You'll Love

Great Aunt Eleanor's Fruit Cake

(Submitted by Diana Kampert, Spiraling Heart Coven Everglades Moon Local Council)

"Don't like Fruit Cake?  You won't after you try this recipe"

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. each cinnamon, ground allspice, nutmeg and cloves[1]

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup well-packed brown sugar

6 eggs

1 tbsp. vanilla

½ cup brandy

1 cup light raisins[2]

1 cup dark raisins

1 cup currants

½ cup each dried cranberries, cherries, pineapple, etc.

Nuts

Set oven to 300° oven

Butter a springform pan and line with waxed paper.  Sift dry ingredients together.  In a plastic bag, combine fruits and nuts with about 2 tbsp. of the flour mixture.  Shake to coat well.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, and beat after each.  Then add vanilla and brandy. Fold in flour by hand, then fruit and nuts.  Pour into springform pan and bake for 1 ½ - 2 hours.  If it browns too fast, cover lightly with foil and reduce temperature to 275°, after 1 ½ hours. 

To store, wrap cloth steeped in brandy, then in foil.  Place in air-tight container in a cool place.  Allow to age at least a month.

Notes 10/3/12

Greased the pan with Crisco and only lined it with 1 sheet of waxed paper instead of trying to wrangle two for full coverage.  There were just a couple of small gaps on either side.  These I later covered with a couple small pieces of the butter paper.  Then, I greased the inside of the waxed paper as well.  During the creaming process, I forgot to add the brandy and vanilla, so I added it halfway through the folding process, then used the mixer to cream a little bit more; then folded in the rest of the flour and added the fruit and nuts.  The cake fully baked in 1 ½ hours, no need to cover with foil, etc.  Also, the waxed paper came off much more easily, and no sticking in the cracks, etc.

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[1] Original recipe called for 1 tsp. cinnamon and one tsp. of either nutmeg or allspice.  I modified to add 1 tsp. each, and also added ground cloves.

[2] Original recipe called for candied fruit.  I changed to dried fruit – much better!  Fruit and nuts proportions can vary.  Overall, about 4 – 4 ½ cups total.