[Vision2020] Fruitcake [was Re: Mark, Chas and Dan, of Xtains]

[Melynda Huskey]

I'm not sure fruitcake is particularly Christian . . . in fact it's hard to think of foods as distinctively Christian as the Ashkenazi food I've learned to cook since Joan converted is distinctively Jewish--piroghi, brisket, charoset, rugelach, chicken soup with dill and matzoh balls, chopped liver.  (My own denomination, the Quakers, is mostly known for earnest potlucks of simple soup and whole grain bread while praying for an end to world hunger and examining one's conscience on the question of conspicuous consumption.)

In the spirit of the season (or, as we Friends say, "that day called by some Christmas"), here is my recipe for the apotheosis of all fruitcake.  It's too late for this year, but if you start on [the day called by some] Halloween, 2006, by the end of December you'll have something fit to lay next to the gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Black Cake

In October, chop finely:

1 lb. dried apricots
1 lb. golden raisins
1 lb currents
1/2 lb dried cherries or cranberries
1/2 lb candied citron
1/2 lb candied lemon peel
1/2 lb candied orange peel
1/4 lb candied ginger

Put the fruit in a very large tupperware or glass container with a lid.  Pour over it one bottle of Mogen David concord grape Passover wine and one of those small bottles of dark rum.  Leave the fruit in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks, but the longer the better.  You could keep it for as long as a year.  Stir it from time to time.

When you're ready to make the cakes, put 2 cups of brown sugar in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Stir constantly until sugar is completely melted--don't let it burn, but let it get richly brown.  Very carefully, pour in a cup of hot water.  The caramel will spit and clump.  Keep stirring it, CAREFULLY, until the caramel melts again.  Put it aside.

Cream together 1 lb of butter and 1 lb of brown sugar.   Carefully add the fruit and its juices, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and cinnamon.  Beat in 12 eggs, one at a time.  Pour in the caramel essence.  In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 lb plus 1/2 cup of unbleached flour and 1 tablespoon baking powder.  Add to the batter and mix thoroughly.

Grease two big loaf pans and line with wax paper or parchment.  Pour in the batter and bake 90-110 minutes at 350 F.  Let the cakes cool in the pans.  When they are cool to the touch, pull them out of the pans, wrap carefully in wax paper and leave them to season for a couple of days at room temperature.

Serve in small slices to people you truly love, or people you'd like to love you.

Melynda Huskey



-----Original Message-----
>From: Chasuk <chasuk at gmail.com>
>Sent: Dec 19, 2005 4:32 PM
>To: Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam at hotmail.com>
>Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Mark, Chas and Dan, of Xtains
>
>On 12/19/05, Sunil Ramalingam <sunilramalingam at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> When we lived in Malaysia, my parents loved our Sri Lankan neighbor's
>> fruitcake recipe, and have made it for the last 35 years or so.  People
>> there loved it, and my folks sometimes shipped some of their fruitcake to
>> family in India.  When they returned to the US in the late 80s, they kept
>> making it, and are baffled by all the fruitcake jokes here.
>
>I love fruitcake!  Is the recipe a closely guarded secret, or can it
>be shared with all of your great friends on Vision2020?
>
>_____________________________________________________
> List services made available by First Step Internet, 
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.   
>               http://www.fsr.net                       
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
>¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯