Fruitcake

Fruitcake

Cakes & Muffins, Desserts
Classics, Holidays, Party Food

Serves many! Makes 2 8-by-8 cakes, or about 4 dozen bar slices

Fruitcake really can be wonderful -- dark, spicy, fragrant and delicious. But you won't get that from the boxes of dodgy candied fruit mix sold at the grocery store at the holidays. Take the time to assemble ingredients that actually taste good – namely a selection of dried and candied fruits that you’d be happy to eat on their own.

The mixture of fruits is up to you – take my combination as a suggestion and starting point. Giving the fruit a nice long soak in cognac and honey certainly doesn’t hurt – I rest that combination for a week in the refrigerator, stirring it up each day.

Fruitcake really can be made months in advance. In fact, it improves with maturation. In Victorian England, the collect for the last Sunday before Advent in the Book of Common Prayer included the phrase “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people,” incidentally reminding faithful home cooks that it was time to “stir up” their Christmas cakes and puddings so that they’d be well-matured by Christmastide.

I’m not sure I’d recommend making your fruitcake that far ahead, but you should certainly feel free to get it done in advance. In the prayerbook of the Episcopal Church, the collect for the third Sunday in Advent begins “Stir up your power, O Lord…”, and two weeks before Christmas sounds about right for stirring up this deliciously rich cake.

Ingredients #

  • 2 ½ c dark raisins
  • 2 ½ c golden raisins
  • 1 c dried cherries, coarsely chopped
  • 2 c dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
  • 1 c dried Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
  • 1 c dried plumbs, coarsely chopped
  • 1 c dried apricots, coarsely chopped
  • 1 c high-quality candied citron peel (or mixed citrus peel)
  • ½ c finely chopped candied ginger
  • ¾ c honey
  • 1 ½ c cognac or brandy
  • 1 ½ c (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temp, plus more to grease the pan
  • 2 ¼ c bread flour, plus more to dust the pan
  • 1 tbsp coarse salt
  • 1 ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 c walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
  • 1 c pistachios, shelled and coarsely chopped
  • 1 ¼ c sugar
  • 7 large eggs

Instructions #

Combine the dried fruits, candied ginger, honey and cognac in a large non-reactive bowl (glass, ceramic or plastic). Cover with plastic wrap and let them macerate at room temperature for 2 days or up to 2 weeks. Strain well.

Preheat oven to 275 F. Butter and flour two 8” square pans.

Combine the flour, salt and spices in a bowl and whisk together. Stir in the walnuts and pistachios.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy (3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. Transfer to a large bowl. Fold in the flour-nut mixture and the drained fruit. Stir until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth the top of each. Bake until the knife or toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs (2 to 2 ¼ hours). Move the pans to wire racks and allow the cake to cool completely.

When cool, turn the cakes out onto the racks and reverse them so they’re right-side up. At this point, they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 months (really!). When you’re ready to serve, cut the cakes into thirds and then cut each third into 1” slices.