The 2008 Christmas Baking Season has officially started!  Today, I started off with fruitcake.  This is a new recipe for me, and it looks pretty good.

I absolutely love real, homemade fruitcake.  If you’ve only tasted those nasty doorstops sold in grocery stores, you’re in for a treat.  There is a difference.  REAL fruitcake is good.

Fruit Cake

The recipe makes several fruitcakes and will require a couple of pretty big bowls.

  • 1 lb butter
  • 1 lb light brown sugar
  • 9 eggs
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 lb flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp mace
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 2 lbs dried currants
  • 1 lb raisins
  • 1 lb golden raisins
  • 1 lb glace fruits
  • 8 oz glace pineapple, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 lb whole pecans

Preheat oven to 275°.  Place dried fruits into large bowl, mix in glace fruits, add 1/4 cup liquor, mix well, and set aside. (Can be prepared the night before.)

Separate the eggs. Beat egg whites until stiff with half of the brown sugar, set aside. Cream butter, adding half the brown sugar, mix well. Beat the egg yolks until thick, beat yolks into butter mixture, along with the milk. Sift flour, baking soda, mace and cinnamon. Stir into butter mixture, then stir batter into fruit mixture by hand. Fold in egg white mixture.

Grease and flour baking tins. (I used bake and serve cardboard pans from Cost Plus.) Place pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Place cakes in oven and bake. Smallest cakes should be done in 50 minutes, continue to bake larger cakes until they test done with a toothpick. Largest cakes usually bake in 1 1/2 hours.

Thoroughly cool cakes on racks and then wrap each cake in brandy-soaked cheese cloth. Wrap well in plastic and store in cool, dark place. Allow cakes to mellow for at least six weeks.

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They look pretty spectacular, and smell absolutely wonderful.  I’m ready for Christmas!