Love it. If you need to get rid of a loaf or two, send ‘em to me.
Fruitcake
- Thread starter Old Hippie
- Start date
I'll never understand the societal disrespect and ridicule heaped upon the beloved fruitcake. Especially this time of year. Passed around like the red headed stepchild from relative to relative, sometimes from year to year. The Rodney Dangerfield of holiday treats.
It's got fruit. It's got nuts. It's got cake. It's got booze.
So many of my favorite holiday things, all in one bite. What's not to like?
It's got fruit. It's got nuts. It's got cake. It's got booze.
So many of my favorite holiday things, all in one bite. What's not to like?
Well said, sir.
Egad,sir, you ain’t heard nothing yet! The race for the brides garter would have made yer
I believe it is due to cheap grocery store fruitcakes. I would pick up quality German ones at the commissary at a nearby naval base and they was no comparison.
I've had some really bad ones, both commercially produced (which were like dried bread with a raisin in it) and home-made (that was so dense that they considered it for fissionable material when creating the atomic bomb).
If you're unfortunate to have experienced either version and not a good one, I can understand the disdain with which some hold fruitcake.
You are right. The ones at the gas station convenience store, next to the rack of Twinkies, are not so good.
My mind is blown! I thought I was the only person in the US that actually liked fruitcake! I'm not exaggerating here but I have never met anyone who liked fruitcake. I knew you all existed because there is so much of it out there for sale.
I do have a question though. Can any of you who make it recommend a book? I would love to learn about techniques, history, different types, hailing from different regions, and recipes. I know my way around the kitchen, so something beyond what the Joy of Cooking has to offer (that entry level). I'll start to dig around on the interwebs, but in the kitchen I prefer a good ol' fashion cookbook to work from. When I bake, I bake in metric measurements so something published outside of the US is just fine.
I do have a question though. Can any of you who make it recommend a book? I would love to learn about techniques, history, different types, hailing from different regions, and recipes. I know my way around the kitchen, so something beyond what the Joy of Cooking has to offer (that entry level). I'll start to dig around on the interwebs, but in the kitchen I prefer a good ol' fashion cookbook to work from. When I bake, I bake in metric measurements so something published outside of the US is just fine.
- Thread starter
- #69
Yes, I can. However, it's not much beyond the recipes but the recipes are really good.
Christmas Cakes and Puddings is part of a series issued back around 2000 by The Australian Women's Weekly. I ran across it in a cooking store and bought it on a whim. I've since acquired a number of other titles in the series; they're well written and the recipes work. My copy references www.awwbooks.com.au as the online source (which may still be open). This volume carries an ISBN of 1-86396-204-2.
I had another book years ago, which again was mostly recipes but with more of an historical bent. Cakes like that bride-cake recipe above.
Search around the net. There used to be several sites with lots of fruitcake recipes, some with good historical content as well.
O.H.
Thank you! I appreciate the info. Now that kitchen chaos of our Thanksgiving is over, I'll have some time to see what I can dig up. Thank you again!
‘Good Things In England’ by Florence White. It’s a collection of traditional and regional recipes from 1399 to 1932.
I posted some recipes from this book earlier in this thread. It’s well worth a read.
Attachments
What were they: Stollen or Schnitzbrot?
TheShaun
Bejeweled
is there a good one that can be ordered online?
- Thread starter
- #74
As someone who makes a universe of fruitcakes for my own enjoyment I'm not the best person to ask. When I ran my "Fruitcake Adoption Service" at one place I worked, I used to get a nice big Collins cake every year from one of the guys whose wife was a teacher. Some family would give her a big fruitcake every year, and it would pretty quickly show up on my desk.
I have to say that in the realm of "boughten" cakes that one was pretty good. I also remember that some of the service organizations my father joined would sell Claxton fruitcakes every winter. We always got a couple, and as a kid I enjoyed them. I've had one or two since and they're still nostalgically tasty.
If it's needful that you suffer with a commercial cake, the Claxton has the advantages of being palatable and also fairly small so you're not stuck in Fruitcake Hell until it's all gone.
O.H.
I have to say that in the realm of "boughten" cakes that one was pretty good. I also remember that some of the service organizations my father joined would sell Claxton fruitcakes every winter. We always got a couple, and as a kid I enjoyed them. I've had one or two since and they're still nostalgically tasty.
If it's needful that you suffer with a commercial cake, the Claxton has the advantages of being palatable and also fairly small so you're not stuck in Fruitcake Hell until it's all gone.
O.H.
The wife and I enjoy the store bought Claxton ones. A couple little slices each night, yum.
Stollen. Very good.
Thanks so much for the suggestion!
You’re welcome.
The neighbor dropped off the "Costco" fruitcakes the other day.
He said $30/ea was a sale price, which is what we got them for. The regular price is $40/ea. The box of two must have weighed over 10 pounds. The gentleman has a heart condition, so I was surprised he made such a long walk carrying that load.
His finder's fee was a nice bottle of Pinot Noir, which I know he has a fondness for.
They are actually Collin Street Bakery fruitcakes, which have a well-deserved reputation. If they are as I remember them from years ago, $30 nowadays may be a bargain.
I don't start hitting the fruitcake until after December 1. But I'll let you know how they go. I suspect they're going to go very well.
I'll take your word for it, but I looked before and thought the Collin Street was a little more "cakey".
Let me know how it goes!
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