Granny's Fruitcake

Every year, I realize about a week before Christmas that I want to make a fruitcake. Then I read up AGAIN on fruitcakes, and realize that I am TOO LATE TO START.

This year, the alarm went off in my head right after Thanksgiving, giving me plenty of time to get my act together.

And it was amazing! I toyed with the possibility of doing a new recipe from Serious Eats or Alton Brown's seemingly very popular recipe, but then it occurred to me that I should try crowd-sourcing, because fruitcake is such a polarizing food item. I asked my trusted recipe exchange group for ideas, and a friend of mine offered up her great-grandmother's recipe.

Don't. Mind. If. I. Do.

Planning!

I read the recipe a bunch of times, and decided to make only a handful of adjustments.

Here's "Granny's" recipe as shared by my friend:

• 4 c mixed diced or thinly sliced candied fruits
• 1 c sultanas or light raisins
• 1 1/2 c currants
• 1 1/2 black raisins
• 1 cup thick fruit preserves (my grandmother noted that Granny used strawberry jam)
• 1 t vanilla
• 1/2 c cognac
• 1 c butter
• 2 c flour
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t cloves 
• 1 t cinnamon
• 6 eggs
• 1 c dark brown sugar 
• 1 cup nuts, filberts or walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 c pecans, coarsely chopped

1. The night before you plan to bake, mix all of the fruits with the vanilla and the cognac in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Preheat oven 300
3. Grease and flour 3 9x5 tins
4. Add nuts to bowl with fruit.
5. Cream butter, flour and spices together until light.
6. Beat sugar and eggs until thick and fluffy. Stir egg mix into  butter mix.
7. Pour batter over fruit. Stir together with hands, gently but quickly.
8. Fill tins 2/3 full and pat batter down. Cover each tin with aluminum foil. 
9. Bake for 2 hours. Remove foil and bake another 40 minutes, or until tops are brown. 
10. When completely cool, turn cakes out of tin. Wrap each cake in cloth soaked in cognac, then in aluminum foil. Store in a cool place for at least two weeks.

Alright. So, first of all: amazing. I had never heard of wrapping a cake in cloth-soaked in liquor. I have only heard, often, of "feeding" a cake daily by spraying it with booze. This was so hands-off, and yet totally intriguingly likely to be perfect, I absolutely had to try it.

But also, this was clearly going to make three loaves of fruitcake. I didn't need that.

So, I scaled it by a third. Easy. I also decided to toast the walnuts and pecans before adding them to the batter. Also easy. I had strawberry jam in the fridge already, so I could adhere to Granny's preference. Easy, easy, easy.

Other than that, the only real "challenge" was deciding on dried fruits. Here's what I picked up at Kalustyan's to make up the "mixed diced or thinly sliced candied fruits" called for in the recipe:

• orange cranberries
• candied lemon
• candied rhubarb
• glacé apricots

Baking!

This was such fun to make, from start to finish. The cake itself comes out of the oven very dry and dense, making the logic of wrapping it in soaking wet boozy cheesecloth immediately validating.

fruits n stuff!

gotta beat those sugar and eggs

creamin'

it's a TON of fillings to add!

such a thick batter!

into the oven

outta the oven - so dry and heavy!

wrapped up in stinky boozy boozy booze

It sat in a tin on my table for 3 weeks, defying me to peek inside. I was strong. I did not peek. So on Christmas morning, I got to open up this magical, mysterious, heavenly present...

The cheesecloth, which had been dripping wet when I wrapped the cake, was practically dry, while the cake was moist throughout, but not falling apart. Science!

I ate four slices for breakfast. hashtag no ragrats.