Fruitcake pt 1
1 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried pears, packed |
| 1 | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried peaches, packed |
| 1 | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried apricots, packed |
| 1 | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried pitted prunes, packed |
| 1 | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried pitted dates, packed |
| 1¾ | cup | (6 oz) cut-up dried apple slices, packed |
| 1 | cup | (5 oz) seedless raisins, packed |
| 1 | cup | (5 oz) golden raisins, packed |
| ½ | cup | (2 1/2 oz) dried currants, packed |
| ½ | cup | (4 oz) candied yellow pineapple, chopped (optional) |
| 1 | cup | Dark rum or brandy |
| Solid shortening | ||
| Butter-flavor no stick cooking spray | ||
| 1 | large | Egg plus |
| 3 | larges | Egg whites |
| 1¾ | cup | Light brown sugar, packed |
| ½ | cup | Canola or safflower oil |
| ½ | cup | Honey |
| ⅓ | cup | Apple or orange juice |
| 2 | cups | Unsweetened applesauce |
| 2 | teaspoons | Vanilla extract |
| 2 | tablespoons | Grated orange zest -or- |
| ½ | teaspoon | Pure orange oil or orange extract |
| 2¼ | cup | Unsifted all purpose flour |
| 1 | cup | Unsifted whole wheat pastry flour (or use a total of 3 1/4 cups all purpose white flour) |
| 1½ | teaspoon | Baking powder |
| ½ | teaspoon | Baking soda |
| ¾ | teaspoon | Salt |
| 1½ | teaspoon | Cinnamon |
| 1 | teaspoon | Nutmeg |
| ½ | teaspoon | Ground cloves |
| ⅓ | cup | Wheat germ |
| Dark rum or brandy for soaking cakes (optional) | ||
| 2 | Recipes Vanilla Icing Glaze (recipe follows) | |
| Pecan or walnut halves or whole blanced almonds (optional) for garnish | ||
| 1 | cup | Confectioners sugar |
| 1½ | tablespoon | Apple juice or strained orange juice, or dark rum or brandy (up to 2) |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Vanilla extract |
Directions
FRUIT
CAKE
VANILLA ICING GLAZE
>From Susan Purdy's, "Have Your Cake and Eat It Too" - comments are from her book.
Yield: Makes 14 cups of batter; 8 small loaves (5½ x 3 x 2 ⅛), 8 servings each or 4 average loaves (8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ¾), 16 servings each.
Advance preparation: If you have the time, the fruit benefits from macerating for 24 hours in rum or brandy; otherwise mix up the fruit before you make the cakes. Cakes can be wrapped in cloths soaked in brandy or dark rum and stored in tins for (theoretically) several months. I have only kept them soaking up to 1 month because I prefer to freeze the cakes after aging them in spirit-soaked clothes for 1 week. At holiday time, I am usually rushed, so I often forget the soaking and aging and just bake the cakes, glaze them, wrap airtight in several layers of plastic wrap and a heavy duty plastic zip-lock bag, and freeze. Then you can remove from the freezer, add a ribbon and a recipe card (and if you are feeling expensive, a new loaf pan) and give as gifts.
Special equipment: 8 small loaf pans (5 ½ x 3 x 2 ⅛ inshes; 2 ¼ cup capacity) or 4 average loaf pans (8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ¾ inches; 5 ¼ cup capacity), Wax paper or baking parchmant, Extra large bowl, Muslin, cotton fabric or cheesecloth (optional), Metal or plastic boxes for storing cakes (optional).
Temperature and Time: 350F for 60-65 mintues for small loaves; 1 hour and 15-20 mintues for average loaves.
continued in part 2