Hol­i­day Fruitcake

Fruit­cake has to be one of the best fruit and nut cakes. It has an unde­served rep­u­ta­tion of being hard and too sweet; this comes from cer­tain com­mer­cial fruit­cakes which use super sug­ared pieces are fruits. This recipe is guar­an­teed to inau­gu­rate you as a new fruit­cake fan!

1 Week Before Bak­ing Day

Can­died Fruits
Add 1/4 cup of Grand Marnier, Brandy or Cal­va­dos to
1/4 cup raisins
zest of 1 small orange
4 snipped mej­dool dates, pit­ted
1/4 cup dried cher­ries
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Bak­ing Day

Dry
1 1/2 cups of all pur­pose flour
1 tsp. cin­na­mon
1/2 tsp. bak­ing soda
1/4 tsp. bak­ing pow­der
1/4 tsp freshly ground cloves
1/2 tsp. freshly ground all­spice
1/4 tsp nut­meg (prefer­ably freshly ground)
1/2 cup walnuts

Wet
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup no salt but­ter
2 tbsp. molasses
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. liqueur (Grand Marnier, Brandy or Calvados)

2 days prior to bak­ing the cake cre­ate the can­died fruit mix­ture and keep in the refrigerator

Pre-heat oven to 300 F. But­ter an 8X4X2-inch bread pan

Dry Ingre­di­ents
In a large bowl, add flour, cin­na­mon, nut­meg, bak­ing pow­der, bak­ing soda, ground cloves, ground all­spice, and wal­nuts, then mix well.

Wet Ingre­di­ents
In a medium bowl, add beaten eggs, brown sugar, apple juice, orange juice, but­ter, and molasses and mix. Add can­died fruit mix­ture and mix.

Add wet ingre­di­ents to dry and mix until com­bined. Do not over-mix. Pour mix­ture into bak­ing pans. Bake on 300F for 55 min­utes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.

Cut some cheese­cloth to a size big enough to wrap cake in. Wet the cheese­cloth with a liqueur of your choice and wrap around fruitcake.

Tip: Add liqueur to a small spray bot­tle and spray cheese­cloth daily for 2 week, then cut fruit­cake and eat.