Enjoy!
Shava's real fruit cake
preheat oven to 275 degrees F
fruit mixture:
3 C raisins (I like flame raisins!)
2 lb turkish apricots (sue me, I like sulphered ones)
2 lb choice of small dried berries -- cherries, cranberries, blueberries
1 lb candied dried pineapple
1 C diced candied lemon and/or orange peel (try candying these yourself from organic rinds -- it's easy!)
1/2 C crystallized ginger (I like Reed's)
1 lb sliced almonds
1 lb walnut pieces
1.5C peach schnapps
2 lb turkish apricots (sue me, I like sulphered ones)
2 lb choice of small dried berries -- cherries, cranberries, blueberries
1 lb candied dried pineapple
1 C diced candied lemon and/or orange peel (try candying these yourself from organic rinds -- it's easy!)
1/2 C crystallized ginger (I like Reed's)
1 lb sliced almonds
1 lb walnut pieces
1.5C peach schnapps
Cut larger fruit into a small dice, add schnapps. Let sit overnight -- stir it when you think of it. If there's no moisture at all at the bottom of the bowl, add more schnapps. C'mon. It'll bake off.
flour mixture:
5C flour (a bit less if you use King Arthur)
dash salt
3T baking powder (non-aluminated is best)
mix in a bowldash salt
3T baking powder (non-aluminated is best)
in a very large bowl, create the shortning mixture:
1LB shortning (I used a good quality unsalted margarine -- I'm a butter fan, but shortning works better in this!)
3C sugar
1/2C molasses
1T cinnamon
2T mace
2t allspice
1t cardamon
1/2t black pepper (no kidding! it's in chai, too)
cream together until uniform3C sugar
1/2C molasses
1T cinnamon
2T mace
2t allspice
1t cardamon
1/2t black pepper (no kidding! it's in chai, too)
add to the large bowl of shortning mixture, by turns:
10 eggs
flour mixture
adding flour every couple of eggs until eggs, shortning mixture, and flour mixture are uniformflour mixture
Blend in the fruit mixture
What you should have is fruit, barely stuck together with batter.
Fill 3-4 loaf pans. You can use brownie or cake pans if you haven't enough loaf pans, but start checking the cakes an hour earlier! If you don't have good non-stick pans, put greased parchment (or in a pinch greased brown paper) on the bottoms.
Bake for 2.5 to 3 hours. Depending on your oven, start checking with a toothpick or cake tester at about 2 hours. Depending on your humidity, how long you soaked the fruit in how much souse, and the characteristics of your oven, baking times can vary a lot. The point here is to not let the cakes dry out, just bake the batter around the fruit. Cakes should be evenly light brown on the tops -- if they start browning on the edges, take them out!
The easy way: cut into 1/2" to 1" slices, sprinkle with a bit more schnapps to taste, serve with strong coffee.
The real way: Bake the cakes on Thanksgiving weekend. Cut into 1.5" to 2" slices. Wrap each slice in cheesecloth. Sprinkle each slice with peach schnapps. Put all the slices in tins. Every day or two until Christmas, beat the ravening crowds off with a stick and sprinkle more schnapps. By Christmas, the outside of each slice will have a sort of crystallized rum-cake consistence, and be completely delectable.
No one will believe it's fruitcake -- but I'll let you in on a secret. This is the real deal. The rest are the Wonder Bread of the fruitcake world.
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Comments: 1
One of my relitives make fruitcake into cookies really good..wish I had her recipe it's a secret...she makes every year...I hope she passes it down..