Holiday Fruitcake

Since I became enamoured with old-fashioned cooking (especially with cast iron), I've been trying many different classic cooking techniques. One of my most successful efforts was creating a Christmas Plum Pudding in the classic British tradition, with suet and classic pudding ingredients. However, not everyone has the time or the facilities to spend four hours steaming a holiday pudding. A modern-day fruitcake, made from traditional ingredients and baked in the oven, has a shorter preparation time than a steamed pudding. Not only is it delicious – it far outstrips those hideous blocks of "fruitcake" sold in stores. It's well worth the effort to make one…and if your family and friends are the kind who might run away just because "it's fruitcake" – then tell a little white lie and say it's a SPICE CAKE.

(It's worth noting that December 27th is National Fruitcake Day!)

Pans needed: Large bowl to mix batter. 2-quart 10-to-12 inch bundt cake pan.

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup spiced rum (the alcohol boils out as the cake bakes in the oven)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup candied citrus, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped (The choice of fruit is up to you – you can use "traditional" fruits or exotic fruit mix. Use what appeals to you. If you want to omit the candied citrus entirely, increase this to 1 cup of dried fruit.)
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Preparing a fruitcake is one of the easiest recipes in the world! Once you've gathered your ingredients together, here's all you need to do:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease bundt pan with shortening.

Cream together eggs, butter, sugar. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder. Mix it all together.

Add rum, milk, and honey. Mix it all together.

Add spices: cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger. Mix all together….

Add filling: raisins, candied citrus, dried fruit, nuts. And mix it all together.

Pour into bundt pan. Bake at 300 degrees F for 90 minutes, then test with a toothpick before removing the cake from the oven. If the toothpick is not dry, wait 10 minutes and test again. Set the pan onto a trivet, and let the cake rest for 20 minutes before flipping the pan over to remove the cake.

Serve slices of cake topped with butter, cream cheese, or a custard sauce.

Custard Sauce

• 1 container vanilla ice cream, 1.5 to 2 quarts
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Place the container of ice cream in the refrigerator overnight and let it melt. The next day, empty the contents into a mixing bowl. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the bowl of soft custard into a plastic storage bin, and keep cool until ready to serve. The fruitcake can be heated before serving, then the cold custard sauce is spooned or ladled over the cake.

See also: Candied Fruit Peel