California fruitcake

[Aria]

ChefJune California Fruit Cake

YES. This sounds yummmmy. Did not make fruit cake this year.
Will try this recipe soon. Thanks for sharing. Aria

 

[rocketdog1]

Terrific, PieSusan. People were knocked out - its so different than the candied one. People who hate fruit cake loved it. i put rum on one loaf. I like it without, myself. Thanks again.

 

[ChefJune]

Terrific, PieSusan. People were knocked out - its so different than the candied one. People who hate fruit cake loved it. i put rum on one loaf. I like it without, myself. Thanks again.

I'm so glad. I didn't make it this year, myself, but was wishing for a slice or two..... Personally, when I make it, I go California all the way and imbibe it with California brandy, rather than rum. I like the flavor of the brandy with these fruits better than rum.

 

[Bigjim68]

My mother used to make what she called an applesauce cake. A lot like fruit cake except no fruit, only raisins and nuts. Very dense She does not remember the recipe, and apparently did not pass it on. Anybody ever heard of it and/or have a recipe. I would like to recreate it. Don't even know where to start.

 

[gadzooks]

Sorry this took so long!

CALIFORNIA FRUITCAKE

There’s not one candied bit of anything in this fruitcake. It’s chock full of yummy dried fruits and luscious nuts. You can add some finely chopped orange zest, if you like to give it that real California touch!

makes 2 in 9x5x3-inch pans, or 5 in 5x3x2-inch pans

Note: This recipe doubles, triples, quadruples, etc., exactly!

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup clover honey
6 extra large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
grated peel of 1 large orange
2-1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon Rumford's baking powder
3 cups each diced prunes, diced dried figs, dates, apricots, yellow raisins, and chopped walnuts -- 15 cups in all! (Be sure to buy dried fruit which has already been pitted.)

Heat oven to 275 degrees F. Grease loaf pans well. Line the bottoms of metal pans with waxed paper or parchment. Grease the lining.

Cream butter until fluffy. Beat in honey. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, orange peel, flour and baking powder.

Beat until smooth and well blended. Fold in fruit and nuts.

Spoon mixture into pans. Press to eliminate air spaces, and smooth the top. Cover pans with greased foil. Bake at 275 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. (1 hour for smaller pans.) Remove foil, raise temperature to 300 degrees F., bake 1 hour more (1/2 hour).

Cool in pan(s) for 15 minutes. Then remove from the pans to a cooling rack and cool with the top side up. Remove paper.

Wrap cakes in rum soaked cheesecloth, then foil. Store in cool, dry place.

Thank you so much, ChefJune, for this recipe. I love good fruitcake, and also do not use alcoholic beverages, which can be almost oxymoronic! This recipe sounds delightful, and I will try it. I would not use a recipe that calls for a large amount of liquor as an ingredient, but a wrap in, say, dark Jamaican rum would be fine. I also like the dried, rather than candied, fruit.

 

[rocketdog1]

that's good to now. Can you recommend brandy? Sorry, not all of my eys are woring - as you can see.

 

[quicksilver]

It's funny this came up this morning. I was watching a rerun of Jay Leno last night - originally aired between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with Robin Williams.
Anyway, one of his stand-ups was a joke about using fruitcake in place of a Duralog to burn in your fireplace.

I just thought it was funny. Sorry!

 

[gadzooks]

I've had fruitcake like that...it doesn't really burn that well, but makes a good wheel-chock.

 

[ChefJune]

It's funny this came up this morning. I was watching a rerun of Jay Leno last night - originally aired between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with Robin Williams.
Anyway, one of his stand-ups was a joke about using fruitcake in place of a Duralog to burn in your fireplace.

I just thought it was funny. Sorry!

No need to apologize. I feel that way about the mass-produced fruitcakes that are mailed about in those metal tins every year. My dad used to call them "doorstops" as he sat scarfing down Mom's homemade fruitcake. There's a world of difference, even in ones made with candied fruit.

Rocketdog: the king of California brandies is Germain-Robin, but I wouldn't use that in the fruitcake. If you google California brandy, or just ask your favorite retailer, you should get a good one. I haven't made this fruitcake in quite a few years. (I do plan to rectify that next holiday season, however. )

 

[Dick Rademacher]

Thanks Chef June, This seems to be the one. If not, its good enough to substitute. I have been searching for years, Thanks Again.
Old Crock