# Fruitcake - mistake or miracle?



## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

I realize that fruitcake is a highly contentious issue and that opinions vary widely, often taking in a level of emotion of religious proportions. But this isn’t about that!

My blushing bride needed space in the refrigerator and targeted a piece of fruitcake that I made in 2018. She served it to me for breakfast (not normal breakfast food and definitely not the “breakfast of champions”)

It tasted great.... to me... better than it tasted earlier in 2020 or in 2019. But are my mortal days numbered? Am I now on my last leg? Or will I live to see another day?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Hmmm.... how much booze did you put in the cake back in 2018?


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

It was a 10- or 12-cup recipe. Probably 12 since it fills a 10x4 tube pan. The fruit was macerated in 1/2 cup of bourbon. Makers Mark, I believe. The cake was aged with 1/2 cup of brandy. Brand unknown but probably a rather plebeian choice.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Mmmmm.... you’ll have to send it to me for further testing...

Seriously though, this stuff was designed for long term storage. 

The only reason it has such a bad rep in N.America is that the mega-bakeries started replacing real fruit with candied rutabaga, candied melon peel, using red food dye #2, obscene green cherries, and margarine—no wonder it tasted gross.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

[JUSTIFY]I don't know ... maybe I'm from the wrong cut ... maybe I went to the wrong school ... maybe I learned from the wrong people ... or maybe I'm just goofy. I ain't using _Maker's Mark_ in a fruitcake. The way I learned when using booze was to use something that you would be drinking anyway. NOT junk or anything labeled _"cooking",_ while at the same time NOT anything impressive off the the _top shelf_. Junk is junk and when cooking you lose any great qualities, and *$$*, that make it top shelf. [/JUSTIFY]

You'll be fine. I've had fruitcakes older than 2-years that didn't kill anybody ... unless you dropped it on them.


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## fatcook (Apr 25, 2017)

I agree with foodpump's reasons for people disliking fruitcake, and add not letting it age long enough as another. In our families, the fruitcake would have been baked in Feb at the very latest in order to be barely old enough for Christmas. There were years it was made in the fall of the previous year if time could be found. They would be stored under a bed and pulled out every 3 months to be basted in more booze. 

Some ladies used a set booze (with religious fervor) some used whatever was handy. One aunt used apple jack - it was delicious! 

Hmm, now I think we need to make some for next year, the local liquor store has apple jack on sale right now...


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

Iceman said:


> [JUSTIFY]I don't know ... maybe I'm from the wrong cut ... maybe I went to the wrong school ... maybe I learned from the wrong people ... or maybe I'm just goofy. I ain't using _Maker's Mark_ in a fruitcake. The way I learned when using booze was to use something that you would be drinking anyway. NOT junk or anything labeled _"cooking",_ while at the same time NOT anything impressive off the the _top shelf_. Junk is junk and when cooking you lose any great qualities, and *$$*, that make it top shelf. [/JUSTIFY]
> 
> You'll be fine. I've had fruitcakes older than 2-years that didn't kill anybody ... unless you dropped it on them.


So are you saying Maker's Mark is not good quality?


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## Seoul Food (Sep 17, 2018)

brianshaw said:


> I realize that fruitcake is a highly contentious issue and that opinions vary widely, often taking in a level of emotion of religious proportions. But this isn't about that!
> 
> My blushing bride needed space in the refrigerator and targeted a piece of fruitcake that I made in 2018. She served it to me for breakfast (not normal breakfast food and definitely not the "breakfast of champions")
> 
> It tasted great.... to me... better than it tasted earlier in 2020 or in 2019. But are my mortal days numbered? Am I now on my last leg? Or will I live to see another day?


I make a Stollen around Christmas season and it never lasts that long so no idea on the freshness/quality. Also how big was this thing to last you two years?


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## jcakes (Feb 18, 2007)

A well-made and well-aged fruitcake is memorable; I started making Jamaican Black Cake after a client requested it for a wedding (it was very young and not aged nearly long enough but it was wonderful) and in small slices it can last a long time!  And yes, using a good booze makes all the difference - well, except in the Jamaican Black Cake, I use cherry brandy to soak the fruit - and the longer the soak the better


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

There are a few ways to “ speed up” the soaking process...

The first is “massaging”: put your fruit,booze and fruit juice ( if using) in the mixing bowl, insert a paddle, put in 1st gear, and walk away for 10-15 mins. The fruit will suck up the booze fast.

The second is vac-packing: put your fruit and booze in a vac bag, and pack it on the highest setting. Fruit will suck up the booze in about a day.

You can also “ build flavour” quickly without aging as well.: Take your butter, spices, aromatics, and booze and mix just until incorporated. Portion off this in pouches. Fats( which includes butter) absorb odours very quickly. Extrapolate this by letting the butter absorb flavours. This can usually be done in under 72 hours, and is also a practical way of production,since you can base your recipie on the butter weight and bowl size you have.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Seoul Food said:


> So are you saying Maker's Mark is not good quality?


I believe he means that it's just too good for fruitcake making. Perhaps a "mid-grade" bourbon, like Jim Beam, this year!


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Seoul Food said:


> Also how big was this thing to last you two years?


It was pretty big... made in 10 inch tube pan and 4 inches thick.

In my family there were 4 of us who like the fruitcake. So I generally cut it in quarters and gift those who like it. Unfortunately two passed on. The piece in the back of the fridge was being saved for one of them but never got delivered.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

... and if anyone wonders... I’m still alive and well.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

[JUSTIFY]As *brianshaw *has suggested in an answer to *Seoul Food's *question ... _YES_ ... I believe _Jim Beam_ would be a good choice. [/JUSTIFY]

[JUSTIFY]To those people that drink disgustingly expensive bourbon, _NO_, _Maker's Mark_ is not top shelf but mid shelf. The general going ransom for a bottle by me starts at +/- *$24* and goes north. I regularly buy Jim Beam at _'da Jewels_ for *$12*. I'll be happy to drink all the _Maker's Mark_ that you are willing to pour. ... _Too good for fruitcake. _[/JUSTIFY]


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## smaakmakerij (Dec 12, 2021)

I agree with the assessment of the distaste for fruitcake in North America.
So foodpump or brianshaw, do either of you have an authentic fruitcake recipe NOT from contemporary 
North America?
I'm not even sure where it originated: England? Other European country? The Carribean? I do know that before refrigeration it was used in wedding cakes. Must the alcohol be bourbon? It seems to me that rum, perhaps even brandy, would be nice.


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

I have a modern British cookbook that has a recipe but I have no idea if it is considered classic or traditional. There are many on the web. In the UK one difference from American fruitcake is that in UK it seems common to coat them with fondant. Bourbon is an American adaptation, I believe.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

This all sounds like a good monthly challenge. For next year perhaps so I'll get started now.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

smaakmakerij said:


> I agree with the assessment of the distaste for fruitcake in North America.
> So foodpump or brianshaw, do either of you have an authentic fruitcake recipe NOT from contemporary
> North America?
> I'm not even sure where it originated: England? Other European country? The Carribean? I do know that before refrigeration it was used in wedding cakes. Must the alcohol be bourbon? It seems to me that rum, perhaps even brandy, would be nice.


Authentic?......

Every household and bakery had their own " authentic" recipie. Brits boiled theirs, in pudding tins all tied up with napkins, Many continental Europeans rolled theirs in bread crumbs/ cake crumbs and baked them in greased pans.

If you look at history, fruitcakes were designed as " emergency hospitality"- a traveler shows up long after your ovens and stove have cooled down and you as a host are obliged to provide SOME kind of nourishment. So you pull out yea olde fruit cake out from under your bed or wherever and slice ' er up.

Most people would tell you "authentic" is whatever their mom or grandmother made. If the stores around your Grandmas place could only import dark Thompson seedless raisins, the an "authentic" fruitcake has those, currents, sultanas, and corinthians are not " authentic"..

This is making me hungry......


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## morning glory (May 28, 2015)

brianshaw said:


> I have a modern British cookbook that has a recipe but I have no idea if it is considered classic or traditional. There are many on the web. In the UK one difference from American fruitcake is that in UK it seems common to coat them with fondant. Bourbon is an American adaptation, I believe.


Yeah - fruitcake laced with alcohol and with 'icing' (fondant) is a traditional Christmas cake here in the UK. It also used to be a traditional wedding cake - but these days most choose a lighter option for weddings. The Christmas cake is made earlier in the year and fed with alcohol at intervals during the year. There are also plenty of fruitcakes made in the UK without icing - Dundee cake, for example.

We also eat fruitcake with cheese...


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## L'uovo vulcanico (Nov 9, 2020)

When I was young (here in the states) the top cake of a tiered wedding cake was almost ALWAYS fruitcake, and was saved for the first anniversary. IIRC the preferred alcoholic "preservative" was brandy or cognac, but that could have been a result of where I grew up (northern california in the "wine country") rather than what was proper or traditional elsewhere... And they were either very, very good eating, or very, very good projectiles.


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