I'd heard many, many stories about the infamous Christmas Fruitcake, and despite how so many people seem to hate it, I thought that I would try it. A cake that's dense with lots of dried fruits sounded quite good -- even more so with a little bit of rum in it to add some extra zing.
I did not follow a recipe. This is one of my examples of "winging it," as far as recipes go. Thankfully, it didn't flop.
There is no candied fruit in this recipe, nor is there a glaze -- I used straight-up dried fruit, and brushed the finished product with some Amaretto liqueur.
ALLERGY WARNING: Contains butter, egg, and gluten. Also contains citrus.
Moist Christmas Fruitcake
Ingredients:
(Be sure to get all dried fruits -- not candied!)
1 cup softened butter or margarine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
14 oz. chopped dates
12 oz. raisins
6 oz. chopped dried apricots
6 oz. chopped dried figs
2 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup whiskey (I used Irish whiskey, but any kind probably works fine)
1/2 cup rum (I used Bacardi Golden rum, but again, any kind should work)
1/4 cup orange juice (put that poor orange that you zested out of its naked misery)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
A couple tablespoons Amaretto liqueur
Directions:
1. Chop up the dates, figs, and apricots, and put them in a large bowl with the raisins. Add the orange zest, carefully toss together, and then add in the whiskey, rum, and orange juice. Add the cardamom, nutmeg, and vanilla, and stir together. Set aside while you prepare the batter.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, and then beat in the egg. In a smaller bowl or cup, stir the salt and baking powder into some of the flour, and add the mixture to the butter mixture. Beat it in, and then work in the rest of the flour.
3. Add to the butter/flour mixture the dried fruits, scraping the bowl to get all of the rum/whiskey/all-that-good-stuff out. Work the fruits into the batter mixture until it is all together, and there are no lumps of batter or fruit.
4. Divide the batter among two or three standard-sized loaf pans that have been lined with a strip of waxed or parchment paper. Smooth out the tops with a spatula, and then bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit until a slender spatula inserted in the center comes out with crumbs sticking to it, but no raw dough. The edges of the loaf should be brown, and the top should be a light golden color. It will be soft and moist.
5. Remove from the oven, and lift the loaves out by grasping the edges of the paper and carefully lifting, wiggling it a bit to help it come loose. Set on a rack, and brush with Amaretto. Let cool for a little before eating it warm, or let cool completely and then eat. Store the leftovers in an airtight bag.
(If this recipe seems a bit more nebulous, for lack of a better word at the moment, it is because I have only made this once.)
(Made and written on 12-20-2020)
