The Kitchen at Goodwood
We love fruitcakes!
Phooey on you people who don't like fruitcakes! I love them and make them all the year 'round.
Here is a little pictorial...
First, find some candied fruit on super sale AFTER Christmas...
You must line your cake pans with brown paper before you start It's a must, really. It makes keeps the cake from overcooking on the sides and it makes it so you can get those guys out of the pan! I use grocery store bags; cut to size, butter up and you are ready to go...
Rectangular pans are traditional but...
Tube pans are also fun. It's all a question of deconstructing the shapes of the pan.
Ready to fill!
Now, make the cake itself.........
I do the fruit mixture first, then macerate it in liquor overnight.
Read your recipe! I love my little fruitcake book...
An assistant is a good idea! This is pretty labor intensive.
Use your hands!
Gorgeous!
Close up of the delicious goodness!
Now, add the nuts:
No, not Dan! Real nuts!
Add the liquor, I mix and match... Whew! Fumes!
I just found that Hobart mixer at Goodwill! Good score!
Mmmmmmacerate overnight! (in an airtight container, obviously)
Now it's time to make the batter. It's basically a pound cake base.
Whipping egg whites
Throw it all together and mix lightly...
(Note the home made vanilla in foreground.)
Chef's prerogative! (taste everything!)
I love these pans. I got them in a restaurant supply house. They have a good square shape.
Anyway, fill them up. Leave 1/4" for expansion.
Fill, fill fill.
Pound the pans on the table to eliminate air pockets, then flatten the tops.
Patty cake, Patty cake, baker's man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can.
Roll it and pat it
and mark it with B
and put it in the oven for baby and me.
Fill that oven up... it's a 3 to 4 hour bake, so use that electricity wisely.
Fruitcake TV! It's a thrilling saga full of sweetness and spice!
Dark fruitcake...
White fruitcake...
Trying a new rum this year.... I'll let you know next year how it worked.
Wrapped in plastic freezer bags, then in foil, then bound in plastic packing tape. Ready for a year in the basement.
I just LOVE to make and eat fruitcake!!!