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| Because that's like 370 pounds of raisin there-- not to mention the currants and candied this & that and local pecans. |
I hope you like fruitcake.
This is funny.
Independently, both Mr. Big Food and I thought that we would make a fruit cake. (Great minds & all.) And then we realized we both had the same thought and so immediately someone screamed "FRUITCAKE CONTEST" and we went running for our recipes.
And then cooler headers prevailed. Why couldn't we both just make fruitcakes and enjoy the fruitcakes?
Ahhhh. Fruitcake.
But of course you need stuff for fruitcake. So you go on a wild Christmas goose chase searching for the stuff you need.
[insert experience at the Oxford, Mississippi Kroger]
And then you are home. And you lay out all of the stuff you need for fruitcake on the table.
~~
I began work on my fruitcake today. It takes 12 pounds of sugar.
Our fruitcake has been made since 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. My husband makes sure I remember to " water it" frequently with the bourbon. 12 cups of sugar???? Mine only has 2, but it has 5 pounds of candied fruit. Good to hear someone else still makes their own----Enjoy!
ReplyDeletejudydee
Wow! I'm impressed. I'll bet it will be delicious having been "watered" for so long!
DeleteI mention the 12 cups of sugar only for shock value. It's not really *in* the cake itself! Stay tuned. :-)
I'll add my mom's recipe in due time - but not today! A once upon a time neighbor of mine and I were joking about the names of recipes, and decided to name it "Sue's Ma's Fruitcake" recipe...
ReplyDeleteMom always said "no pineapple!" ... because the pineapple (and the immediate surrounding cake) would mold, even if faithfully "watered" with Bourbon.
Joy of Cooking says it should be stored in cans of powdered sugar - to keep it dry, presumably. That would add up to a whole _bunch_ of sugar...!
Sue's Ma's Fruitcake
ReplyDelete1# butter
1# sugar
1 dozen eggs
4 oz liquor
1# flour (3 1/5 cups)
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
2# raisins
1# currants
1# dates
1# figs
1# pitted dates
¼ # English walnuts
¼ # Black walnuts
¼ # each: citron, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, candied maraschino cherries
(Total of 6 ½ lbs of dried fruit and nuts – even if you change the various fruits.)
Mix dry ingredients, and add fruit and nuts. Turn the fruit into the dry ingredients until they're well coated with the flour mix.
In a separate bowl, cream butter with sugar and add eggs, one at a time . (My Mom's recipe called for each egg to be broken into a separate cup and then added to the creamed mix. I decided that this was probably a hangover from the days of home supplied eggs, with the subsequent risk that one of the eggs might be rotten – ruining all of the mix. It's probably not necessary today). Add the liquor last.
Fold the floured fruit into the creamed butter mix – or add the creamed mix into the floured fruit...depending on the size of your bowls.
Loaf pans should be 3” x 5”, and lined with oiled/buttered brown paper. Fill the pans about 2/3 full, and bake at least 1 hour at 275* degrees.