Holiday Fruit Cake Recipes

HOLIDAY WHITE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°. Line bottoms of four greased 9x5-in. loaf pans with parchment; grease parchment., In a small bowl, toss candied fruit, raisins and walnuts with 1/2 cup flour. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in remaining flour. Fold in fruit mixture., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. Combine fruit and nuts. In another bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Pour over fruit and nuts; stir to coat. , Transfer to a greased and floured 10-in. tube pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 2 hours. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap tightly and store in a cool place. Bring to room temperature before serving; slice with a serrated knife.

HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE (FRUIT CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
• Combine flour and baking soda; set aside.
• In a large bowl combine mincemeat and sweetened condensed milk. Stir in beaten eggs then the fruit and walnuts. Add the flour/baking soda mixture and stir until combined.
• Spoon batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake approximately 1 hour 20 minutes or until test in middle of cake comes out clean. (I cook to 1 hour 10 minutes then start testing every 10 minutes until cake tests for doneness. If it's over baked it will be dry, otherwise the cake will come out perfectly moist. Be diligent with your testing.).
• Cool 15 minutes. Turn out of pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Cake may be cut into individual portions and wrapped in foil and frozen.
• To make in loaf pans, spoon 3/4 full. Bake 300 degrees for 1 hour or until test in middle of cake comes out clean.

HOLIDAY FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• For the candied peels:
• For this recipe, the peels include not only the colored parts of the skin but the pith as well. Cut wedges through the skin of the citrus fruits, pull the skin off the fruit, and dice it into pieces about 3/8 inch thick-you will have about 2¼ cups of diced peel. (The flesh of the fruit can be used for juice or in salads.) You may also collect and use the peels left over from squeezing oranges or grapefruits in the morning.
• Put the diced fruit peel in a saucepan with 6 cups of cold water, bring to a boil, and cook over high heat for about 1 minute, then drain in a colander. Wash the pieces for a few seconds under cold tap water. Rinse the saucepan with cold water, return the diced fruit peel to the pan, and add another 6 cups of water. Repeat the boiling, draining, and washing procedure, and wash the saucepan again. This blanching process removes the bitterness from the peel. Finally, return the diced peel to the saucepan with the sugar and 1½ cups water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, and boil gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until reduced to a very syrupy liquid.
• Add the dried apricots, dried pears, dried peaches, and raisins to the candied peels and syrup. Mix in the rum, Armagnac, or cognac. At this point, the mixture can be placed in a jar and kept, refrigerated, almost indefinitely.
• To make the cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the soft butter and sugar for 1 minute in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a flat beater. Add the eggs, and beat for 30 seconds. Add the orange juice, salt, and flour, and beat for 10 to 20 seconds, just enough to incorporate. Using a spatula, fold in the candied and dried fruits.
• Cut a strip of parchment paper long enough to fit the length of a 6-to-8-cup loaf pan and extend 1½ inches beyond it at either end. (This makes it easy to unmold the cake after baking.) Butter the paper and the mold, bottom and sides, and position the paper in the mold, buttered side up, pressing to make it adhere to the bottom and sides at either end. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Place the loaf pan on a cookie sheet, and bake in the 350-degree oven for approximately 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees, and cook for another 60 to 70 minutes, until completely set inside.
• Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a rack. When cool, unmold, wrap in plastic wrap and/or aluminum foil, and keep either frozen or in the refrigerator, where it will keep for a couple of weeks.
• To serve:
• Cut into ½-inch slices, and serve. This cake is a nice accompaniment to cream custard but can be served alone or with fresh fruit and nuts.

SPECIAL HOLIDAY FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. Grease well and flour two 8x4-in. loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine dates, pineapple, cherries and nuts. In a small bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir into fruit mixture until well coated., In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks until slightly thickened. In another bowl, beat egg whites and vanilla until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, stir a fourth of the egg whites into egg yolk mixture until no white streaks remain. Fold in remaining egg whites until combined. Add to fruit mixture; gently fold until blended. Pour into prepared pans. , Bake 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 20 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap tightly and store in a cool, dry place. Using a serrated knife, cut into slices.