Serious Fruitcake

fx

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:15:25 GMT

Thanks Petrina!
I love the Angelica plant but have never tried to candy its stem myself, they might add some food coloring anyway I suspect.

fx

Thu, 10 Mar 2016 12:47:20 GMT

Thanks Alma for your praise! Glad you like it.

fx

Sat, 5 Mar 2016 20:32:16 GMT

Yes those low mixing bowls are also nice for photography and more scenic to use, they make a mini landscape in your kitchen!

BeholdersEye

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 18:31:21 GMT

I"m the only one around me that loves fruitcake, but this I must make.

I can see now why you use the wide low mixing bowl, I like.

Alma

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:58:54 GMT

This cake is awesome! It is a firm family favorite and I bake 2 at a time as it is so quick and easy to prepare.
Even non fruit cake lovers are converted!:) ( Must be the rum!!)
Greetings from lovely Cape Town South Africa

Petrina kent

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:26:28 GMT

Fantastic recipie- I sent to printer and it all printed off so I have pages of large Colour pictures and an unhappy husband, so have to cook the cake now to make up for all the ink!!!
Years ago we grew Angelica, the green stuff! An enormous plant which we tried to glaze- if memory serves me right it was definately green but not that green!!!
Luckily it can be bought, along with whole glazed fruit from our village in the Usle of Man- now that is rare. Thanks for the wonderful recipie, I will post my results. Petrina

Bruce of Oz

Fri, 14 May 2010 09:36:01 GMT

Dear FX : hmm, this fruitcake has been playing on my mind lately. I must get moving and make this soon!

What a larder your must have, FX... I loved the way you said Rhum MJ was "the only one you could find!!". I"m envious!!

When are we going to hear from you again? I used to love popping into your site on a Friday evening and being instantly inspired to reach for higher heights in my cooking!

Still photos are fine. Personally I prefer them! And they will save you energy!

Al the very best! Bruce of Oz

Bruce of Oz

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:07:09 GMT

Greetings from Oz, FX!!

"All roads lead to Rome..." And all cooking web-searches lead to FX!! How pleasantly surprised I was today when, searching for some general hints & tips on fruitcake, I chanced on your familiar web-banner!

I"d not seen your "Serious Fruitcake" entry. I solemnly hail fruitcake as The Emperor of Cakes, there is simply NONE better! It"s been a lifelong addiction, started by an aunty who baked me one every birthday when I was young. Anyone who doesn"t enjoy fruitcake is really not quite part of Civilisation!

I will definitely try this version from you and M.Rochat. I am more used to the more conventional, darker fruit cake, usually associated with Christmas and weddings. I made one of those just today. It needs to rest for at least 4-6 weeks before being iced and eaten.. Thus, I have a perfect excuse to make your "Serious", ready-to-eat version in the meantime!

What"s more, it contains one of my other Top Five Favourite flavours - rum! What a winner, I"m so pleased you posted this entry.

But you must try one of the darker ones someday, FX! I can send you a great recipe if you need one. It"s worth making just for the aroma of all the fruit marinating in rum and brandy - a few deep breaths of that and one feels 10 years younger!

Thanks again, good sir, kindest regards

Bruce of Oz

fx

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:23:03 GMT

Fantastic, I am really glad it worked for you! The baking time might be off in my recipe, best insert a skewer in the cake from time to time until it exits the cake fully dry - then it"s baked. Next time try with eau-de-vie or Whiskey, unless you are cooking for T-totallers. It really brings it to a whole new level.

Krish

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 08:00:38 GMT

Serious Fruitcake
200gr 1/2lbs butter
200gr 1/2lbs cake flour
200gr 1/2lbs fine sugar
3 egs
8gr/ 1tbsp baking powder
30gr / 1oz almond powder
30gr / 1oz walnuts
225gr glace red cherries
60gr Orange Juice

For the syrup:
100gr sugar
100gr water
100gr Orange Juice

Ok. Always meant to bake this and now did it during this holiday period. We could not get candied fruit in the shops here hence we just did it with glace red cherries. Also did not have rhum so my wife suggested Orange Juice. Measurement given above. We did not soak the red cherries. Barring that we followed your recipe as described above except we used electric beater to cream butter, sugar and eggs.
And boy did we get a serious fruit cake here.

Cooking time differs markedly here. This is what we did. We pre-heated the oven at 200�C and put in the mix. After exactly 30 mins, we wrap the cake in foil and baked for another 20 mins.

We feel that we can reduce the glace cherries quantity to 150gms from 225gms and reduce the amount sugar in the syrup. I have to admit that the Orange juice was a very welcoming addition compared to expensive rhum. I am not even sure if this can be bought here.

This is one seriously delicious fruit cake I ever had. Thanks again for such a wonderful recipe.

fx

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:01:07 GMT

Thanks for letting us know what needs and doesn"t need to be added to cakes. I think the apple juice and brandy might work fine, I"ll think about it.

passing

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:10:50 GMT

well, too sweetened.

you can soak your cake with a kind of apple brandied apple juice.
That doesn"t need adding some sugar except some special ones.

Marshall

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 19:50:26 GMT

Do you have a Web Site for purchasing a Moroccan Gsaa?

fx

Thu, 2 Apr 2009 11:29:12 GMT

Thanks Andrea, please send me a picture of your gsaa!

Andrea Kirkby

Thu, 2 Apr 2009 10:46:02 GMT

I have been lusting after a wooden gsaa since I saw yours on here - finally, after a holiday in Morocco, I have one, bought for 22 euros from a little shop in the Central Market in Rabat that sells kitchen equipment and baskets. They are much more photogenic than moulinex that"s for sure but there is also the sensual pleasure of using them, for instance mixing up the couscous with your hands.

A tiny detail - the traditional gsaa is carved out of the wood with an adze, not turned, so it has a little natural irregularity - you can feel the bumps with your fingers though the eye may not see them. (We did see some turned ones in Marrakesh.)

So thanks very much FX, because I was looking for a gsaa all the time, we managed not to buy any carpets :-)

fx

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:20:17 GMT

Thanks sets!

sets

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:57:05 GMT

FX: mind you, I use lots of sugar for this stuff, for flavor extraction and as preservative.

fx

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:13:22 GMT

Thanks, this sounds very good indeed! Amazing how in Japan people use much less sugar - very healthy too...

sets

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:12:34 GMT

Thanks, FX, a reply to #51:

I use my fruits candied, dried or fresh depending on their type, availability and the desired effect. I candy my citrus peels to remove the bitterness. Fresh Ume (or windfall quince) go in first and are taken out after a few months. Part of the fruit brandy is set aside for aperitif. Apples go in fresh and stay in the cake. Most other fruits are added dry, or after they have been used to produce fruit liquor. The idea is to keep the water content low to avoid spoilage. You really don"t know what you might run into during the process -- nice kidney fat or wild berries from the bush. I once added the wrong spices and the whole batch turned into curry!

I saw your video post, very nice and informative. Keep it up!

fx

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:37:59 GMT

Sets, this sounds like a great idea. Do you throw candied fruits in the brandy, or just dried fruits?

fx

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:52:42 GMT

No way Alex, this is totally different, you"d end up with some fruit bread. Not the same thing!

Alex

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:11:33 GMT

Hi FX!
How about using dried fruit instead of candied fruit in this cake?

sets

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 05:26:30 GMT

ooooh fruitcake. Serious business.
Only mine begins three years prior to baking when I start dumping all sorts of stuff into brandy. The product resembles the baker -- dark, dense, unpredictable and salami-like. I was looking for something very serious but on the other end of the spectrum. Thanks for this.

fx

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:24:33 GMT

Geoff, are you sure the freezing is indispensible? Could we not just doze the cake with rhum, then wrap it tightly and store it for a couple weeks for the flavors to combine?

Geoff Ball

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:44:10 GMT

Wow, I remember making fruitcake with both my mom and grandmother as a child.

We used to make two types of fruitcake, one light like yours and another very much darker made with raisins and currants. The darker was always much, much, juicier.

One thing that they always did was make it a few months ahead of time. Then they covered it in tin foil and sealed them in a plastic bag and froze it. (something about allowing the rum to soak throughout the cake and the juices and flavours to mix.

Growing up I loved fruitcake. Now 99% of them are just terrible, goes to show, there are somethings that you can"t make quickly or en masse.

fx

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 14:41:23 GMT

Isaak, gracias por tu visita, tienes razon, este es un delicio!

isaak h

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 21:51:16 GMT

wow! yo tengo que hacer y probar esta delicia!!! muchas gracias por la receta. eres super!

fx

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 14:53:40 GMT

Emine, thanks for visiting and now it"s time to get cooking to transform what you read on the screen into real dishes in your kitchen!

EMİNE

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 08:09:36 GMT

I love your site, this is most succesfull site ı"ve ever seen.Perfect pictures, nice recipes...Thank you Fran�ois

fx

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 14:38:01 GMT

Marcus, thanks and I am confident you won"t be disappointed with your learning by-weight recipes!

s.p.marcus

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 18:46:23 GMT

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for the article, too. I plan to run out and buy that scale.

fx

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:26:04 GMT

Jos�, thanks for visiting! What is the most complete, authentic and detailed book about portuguese cuisine (in Portuguese or another language)?

Jos�

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:46:31 GMT

Hi,

Here in Portugal we have the known english cake, which is a fruitcake like that one.
The difference is that it"s dough is darker and more closed. More or less like the texture of cornbread, but soft like I suppose yours is.
Your blog is quite interesting.
If you havent tried the portuguese recipes, namely from convents, then you should :-)

Kind regards,

Jos�

Eleanor

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:25:08 GMT

Hoping to do more with sites, and will have a

> Lower Cholesterol without drugs...cookbook, sold,

Not for Profit or gain...

I like your site, but just found it too, so I"ll be back to get a few recipes.

I am including my recipe for Tandoori Chicken, using a Tangine, so did a search and found you and your tandoor--didn"t know there was one!

Are you a chef?

Eleanor (oh, your fruit cake recipe looks very good..I wish I had found it last Christmas..I have had only store bought, but did lace it with Amaretto..., in a crock for 1 month...

And..who are you, anyway.

Sorry, I cannot help with French (Canadian though), but do know a very nice gal, that is in charge of the French Department in a popular high school in Truro, NS, Canada..

CEC (Cobequid Educational Centre) and they could make it a French project!!!! She is married now, so Karen was Karen Berzowski..you may call, and/or I will check it out.

YOur site looks worthy enough!

james vaughnn

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:42:05 GMT

it does, and the results are really delicious. thank you for posting this recipe! i shall refer all of my friends to your site! :-)

fx

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:57:57 GMT

James, thanks for trying this! I love muscovado sugar and we get loads of it around here, sounds like a great idea to increase the caramel flavors, and I think it must work really well with the rhum.

fx

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:52:21 GMT

Cecilia, yes it"s one expensive rhum! Please bookmark this recipe to cook for next Christmas.

james vaughnn

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 03:07:45 GMT

FX! my parents loved this recipe sooo much! thank you for sharing this to aspiring chefs like me! have you ever tried using brown sugar for it though? i tried making this in two batches- the first is the original recipe, the second uses muscovado sugar (i don"t know if "muscovado" is a universal term, but in any case, it"s a certain type of commercial sugar that has molasses added into it) and LESS rum (i"m still not allowed to drink hard liquor. haha). the latter came out really dark and especially rich, and it keeps well in the fridge (we live in a tropical country). i"ll try to use my country"s indigenous fruits for my next fruitcake (dried mangoes and the like), and i"ll tell you what happens. :-) thank you again!

Cecilia

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:07:38 GMT

Wow! That rum cost 228 Euros! O_O , I would have lick the bowl/syrup clean if I was you .... amazing recipe nonetheless, I"d be great if you posted it during Christmas :)

fx

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:29:12 GMT

TZ thanks for visiting! Cake flour is regular white flour - not the one for bread that contains too much gluten and would make a chewy cake, but the plain "Farine Blanche". I hope this helps!

TZ

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:45:33 GMT

FX--I happened upon your site while googling "miguettes" to figure out why my neighbors built a huge iron fence around their property (thanks for that answer BTW). It"s great! Since I have appointed you as my local food guide: Where do you find "cake flour" here? What is it called locally? I have searched all the stores, including Globus and can"t find it.

I love all the Swiss topics, very educational for a wanna-be Vaudoise. Thanks!

fx

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:00:18 GMT

Damir, thanks for visiting and I"m glad you enjoy the large pictures! It certainly made a big change to my monthly bandwidth bill. A picture is worth a hundred words, but words download a damned lot faster!

sqjam

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:54:09 GMT

Oh my

Fx, this is one of the best site i ever visited. Love your writing style with all this enthusiasm. And look of this site is just amazing; it"s clean and logical. And I believe that we all just love these big pictures.
Keep up the good work.

Cheers from Slovenia ;)

fx

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:01:17 GMT

Molin, nope, no baking powder in this cake.

Molin

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:32:16 GMT

Hi

Wow. yummy cake. Don"t we have to use any flour raiser like baking powder etc?

fx

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:04:19 GMT

Gizmar, I"ve always wanted to candy my own fruits but never found a precise recipe. All I know is that the fruits are first boiled, then simmered in sugar solutions of increasing concentration.

gizmar

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:41:23 GMT

I love the fruitcake. I especially love the candied fruit the way it"s done and would love to find a recipe for creating this. I haven"t seen a combination like this in Canada. It"s wonderful

fx

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:01:47 GMT

Jiyin, I first used the rhum to soak the fruits, as the recipes calls for rhum-soaked candied fruits. My candied fruits did not drink all the rhum I soaked them in, so, as more rhum was needed, I used what remained from the fruit soaking first in the batter according to the quantities specified, then in the syrup. I hope that"s clear. If not clear, just follow the proportions rather than the pictures.

fx

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:20:26 GMT

Agatha, if it"s dry, drown it in rhum!

fx

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:19:44 GMT

Titania, thanks for visiting and good luck with your fruitcake!