... are out of the oven, wrapped, doused, in plastic bags, and on the shelf aging. (Some will applaud, others will retch.)

They aint bad.

It was always panettone growing up. I never cared for but the rest sure did.

"There is, only ONE, fruitcake"!

I like that too, but have never made it.

Call them a Christmas Cake down south.

With Brandy frosting.


Lots of drunk Kiwi grandma's after the frosting was made.....

THIS

https://collinstreet.com/deluxe-fruitcake#size=5442&slice_it=5445&add_ground_coffee=5447

Ironbender approves this holiday message.

Love 'em !

Whatcha use for the dousing John ?

Friends soak the fruit mix first too, then douse again.

Brandy custard or brandy butter, or both !

Yep. Those are the only ones I’ve ever had. My dads side of the family were from Corsicana, so we always had those fruitcakes around during the holidays. I like em’ just fine.

Family tradition has always been a Claxton brand. Have a couple in the defrigerator right now.

What I meant was, the oldy one fruitcake just gets passed around, never "enjoyed".

Recipe?

Apricot brandy - soaks with the fruit mix for a couple of days, then gets brushed on the cheesecloth and reapplied at intervals during the month of aging.

The fruit mix can vary year to year, basically the same. This year:

2 lb. fruitcake mix
1 lb. red candied cherries
1 lb. green candied cherries
1/2 lb. candied pineapple
1 lb. raisins
1/4 lb. candied orange rind
1 lb. chopped dates
1 16-ounce can of pitted sour cherries drained
"some" dried apricots chopped up
Note: this is my choice, so no fricking nuts
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons apricot brandy
Mix, cover tightly, and leave alone for 24-48 hours.

Then:
Sift together 5 cups sifted flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground cloves - set aside.

Cream 1 cup butter (room temperature) and 2 cups brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add 7 large eggs, two at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in 1 12-ounce jar of apple jelly.
Blend well.

Add fruit mixture to the above, alternating with the sifted dry ingredients, using a heavy wooden spoon or your hands until well blended.

Generously grease baking pans (I use 4 4X8 and 3 3X7 bread pans for this amount) , then line with waxed paper, then grease again.
Fill pans about 3/4 full.
Bake at 250 for something over 3 hours. Test with toothpick at 3 hours and then use your judgement. I generally wind up going about 3:15.

Cool on racks (I went overnight) then turn out of pans and peal off paper.

Wrap in cheesecloth and brush with more brandy. Seal in plastic storage bags for at least 4 weeks, checking once a week and adding more brandy as needed.

You need to send one in for corona testing. Luckily enough, I happen to live by the official testing site for all pastries and sweet breads in the United States. Please forward one to me at your earliest convenience, and I will have it tested for the commie virus immediately.

Thanks for the recipe

A few years back I had all the stuff as listed above sitting on the table to make a bunch. I went down the street to get a coffee and my lab ate all the stuff. I thought I would be cleaning up dog puke or poop, but she just slept with satisfaction, and polluted the back yard. She was hell on stealing food all her life.
Going to dinner when my wife gets home, I think we will recount all the stuff she ate over the years. Good laugh over friday beers.

'Fruitcake, The Official Desert of the 24hourcampfire".

I like it all... fruitcake, stollen, panettone.

When I was coming up my mother and aunts made Japanese fruit cakes( think layered fruit cake with one spice cake layer and two white layers fruit cake is in the filling between layers), Lane cake, and Nut cake (think fruit cake with a little more cake between the fruit. I have started making the Nut cake and have made the Lane cake. After the nut cake is cooked and cooled cover the top with several layers of cheese cloth and dampen the cloth with sherry daily for several days. I am tee=aching my daughters too make it, I am the last one in the family that knows how.

Nut-less fruitcake? Inconceivable!

I refer to it as the female variety. I hate cracking my teeth on nut hulls in any sort of food.

sounds interesting and worth the effort

Ok, I made 1/2 batch of the "manly" variety. Has to have walnuts. I am the only to eat it so 1/2 is plenty maybe

I'd rather just drink the Brandy and avoid the rest of the sugar.

But in general, I enjoy the idea of a tradition, so continue on.

Well I never thought it would happen, but I found a fruitcake I DON'T like. And I normally love the damn things. Stollen, panettone, expensive foo-foo fruitcakes from old drunken monks, cheap grocery store fruitcakes, you name it, I love it.

But I don't like the Tastykake fruitcake from Wal Mart. It literally tastes like nothing but corn syrup, pineapple juice (?), and chemicals. Gross.

If you're gonna get a cheap fruitcake from the grocery store, stick with the Claxton fruitcakes from Georgia. The Tastykake fruitcake sucks.

Fruitcake is right there with bread pudding.

I truly want to like it, it seems like I should and would.
But i don't.

Never turn down a chance to try one, figuring may be I just
haven't tried s good one.

Never found a good one yet.

if you knew a canadian family that makes 'Christmas cake' you'd be all set

Wife loves it. If you shop at Costco try the one they sell. It’s pretty good. Heads and tails better than any other brand I ever tried.

Bought fruit cake is blasphemy.

Today I constructed and baked the nut cake. My moistened with13 year old twin girls helped so hopefully the tradition will continue; the recipe goes back at least to their great, great grandmother. Now the cake has been covered in cheesecloth soaked in Sandeman Character medium dry Anontillado sherry. The cake will get moistened every day until probably the 23rd. Update to follow.