You Asked For It: Don't look now, but it's fruitcake time

By ANNE LONG
© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 28, 2001

Yes, Virginia, it is time to start thinking about fruitcakes.

Diane Muchler-Small sends her family's Welsh fruitcake recipe. Diane writes that the name came about because her Welsh aunt always made it for the holidays.

Cyrene Young asked for a recipe that included a pound of butter, and this one does. Golden raisins, walnuts, pecans and candied cherries make this an outstanding fruitcake. The batter will be extremely thick, so use a heavy duty mixer if you have one.

Jo Peapples has made fruitcakes from her recipe for more than 30 years. She makes them every year and gives many as gifts. Jo has even baked and sold them for many years.

They are always popular, and Jo thinks the secret to her recipe is that she doesn't use candied citrus. Candied cherries and pineapple, raisins and pecans are her choices.

Mincemeat is an ingredient in Anna Prada's fruitcake recipe. A beloved aunt shared the recipe with Anna many years ago, and Anna writes that the result is "out of this world."

Sweetened condensed milk is another interesting ingredient. Round out the batter with walnuts or pecans and mixed candied fruit.

In the 1960s Gwen Diller wrote a column called "Kitchen Kapers" for the Naperville (Illinois) Clarion. Gwen notes that her fruitcake recipe, from that column, is "most unusual and very, very good."

Chopped dates, candied pineapple, whole candied cherries and pecans are her favorite ingredients. As Gwen prepares the fruitcake for storage, she soaks a cloth in brandy and wraps the cake with the cloth and then with foil.

For: Cyrena Young of Pinellas Park.

From: Diane Muchler-Small of St. Petersburg.

Recipe: Welsh fruitcake.

Welsh Fruitcake

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 pound butter, softened
• 21/2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 pound golden raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 ounces candied red cherries, cut up
• 2 ounces candied green cherries, cut up

Combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

Cream butter; add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until creamy. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture a bit at a time; mix well. Add fruits and nuts; mix well. The batter will be extremely thick. Diane uses her heavy-duty mixer to make the mixing easier.

Lightly greased 3 loaf bread pans and line with either parchment or wax paper. Cut the paper a bit longer than the pan so that some of the paper hangs over the edge. Spoon the batter into the paper-lined pans and smooth out with a spoon.

Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Test for doneness, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes or so. Remove the cake from the pans by pulling up on the wax paper. After a few minutes, peel away the paper from the cakes and cool on wire racks.

Foil-wrapped cakes will keep for many weeks in the refrigerator. To serve after they have been stored, put cake slices on a paper plate and microwave for 15-20 seconds. They will taste like fresh baked fruitcake.

From: Jo Peapples of Brooksville.

Recipe: Yellow fruitcake.

Yellow Fruitcake

• 2-1/2 cups shelled pecans
• 3/4 pound candied cherries
• 1 pound candied pineapple
• 1-1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon extract

Chop nuts and fruits; dredge with 1/4 cup flour; set aside.

Cream butter; add sugar and cream well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until fluffy. Combine flour and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla and lemon extracts; mix well. Add fruit and nuts; blend well.

Grease and line a 10-inch tube pan or 3 loaf pans with wax paper. Scoop batter into pan(s); smooth tops. Decorate top(s) with fruit and nuts if desired. Place in a cold oven and bake at 250 degrees for 3 hours. Cool in pans.

From: Anna Prada of Temple Terrace.

Recipe: Aunt Ruth's fruitcake.

Aunt Ruth's Fruitcake

• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 28-ounce jar Borden's mincemeat
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 2 cups mixed candied fruits, chopped (Anna also adds chopped dates)

Sift together flour and baking soda; set aside.

In a second bowl, combine mincemeat, beaten eggs and sweetened condensed milk. Add nuts and fruit; mix well.

Fold this mixture into the dry ingredients. Scoop batter into a 9-inch tube pan that has been buttered, lined with wax paper and buttered again. Bake at 300 degrees for about 2 hours or until top is golden brown. Cool, then turn out and peel off paper.

From: Gwen Diller of Belleair Bluffs.

Recipe: Fruit fruitcake.

Fruit Fruitcake

• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 7-ounce packages pitted chopped dates
• 1 pound candied pineapple
• 1 pound whole candied cherries
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 pound pecans, whole or chopped

Let ingredients reach room temperature. Grease 2 loaf pans or 2 9-inch springform pans. Line with wax paper and grease again. (Gwen uses spray.)

Sift dry ingredients, then sift over fruit. Mix until well-coated.

Beat eggs until frothy; gradually add sugar, beating until blended; add to fruit mixture, mixing well. Add nuts and mix with hands or wooden spatula until nuts are evenly distributed and coated. Pack into pans and press down with fingers.

Bake at 275-300 degrees for 11/4-11/2 hours until tops look dry. Stand on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and carefully pull off paper. Cool with top side up. Wrap in foil and store in cool place.

May be cut and eaten the next day or aged for weeks in refrigerator. Before wrapping cake for storage, Gwen soaks a cloth in brandy, wraps the cake with the cloth and then wraps all in foil.

Gwen cuts each loaf down the middle with an electric knife. She then slices each half into 1/2-inch-thick slices, resulting in about a 2-inch square piece. This size piece is perfect since it is a very rich cake.

Recipe requests

Sue Hotchkiss of Clearwater would like to make for Christmas a trifle using chocolate or brownies but needs the recipe.

Kay Veress of Clearwater wants to prepare a German stollen for a friend who is from Berlin. Kay made one last year but was not pleased with the results. Do you have a favorite recipe?

In the early 1970s, either DelMonte or Heinz featured a fruitcake mix made with a packaged cake mix and a can of fruit cocktail. The holiday fruitcake, made without candied fruit, was just delicious. Marianne Ladimir of Hudson writes that it was perfect for nonfruitcake eaters, and she would love to make it again if she had the recipe.

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