Fruitcake

Fruitcake
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This is a far cry from the cake available at your local pharmacy. Haha! 

You can let this cake age in your fridge for a while, tightly wrapped in a few layers of plastic wrap. You can also baste and coat it with alcohol a few times around before enjoying it. Therefore, this cake can be kept for up to a year in the fridge.

  • Serves16
  • Prep time30 mins
  • Cook time3 hours 20 minutes
  • Timeout2 nights
  • FreezingFreezes well

Ingredients

Pour le mélange de fruits
  • 3 cups of dried fruits, as preferred
  • 1 cup of roasted nuts, as preferred
  • 1 cup of water or alcohol, as preferred (Rhum, Cointreau, Cognac, Brandy, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup of orange marmalade
    Replacement options

    apricots jam

Cake
  • 1/2 cup of butter
  • 3/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger, grated
  • 1 teaspoon of lemon zest
    Replacement options

    orange zest

  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of all spice
    Replacement options

    cinnamon, clove, nutmeg

  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • A pinch of salt

Steps

  1. Combine all dry fruits and roasted nuts in a bowl. Add water (or alcohol) and marmalade then stir until well-combined. Refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours allowing the dried fruits to soak up the water.
  2. Pour the fruit mix and its juice into a pot and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, or until the fruits have absorbed all the liquid. Let cool completely.
  3. Preheat the oven to 300°F and place the rack at the centre of it. Grease a 6” springform (5” high) pan with butter and line it with parchment paper.
  4. Blend the butter and brown sugar along with the ginger and lemon zest on high speed in a standing mixer for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the mix whitens.
  5. Add the honey, and eggs one at a time, while whisking continuously. Whisk over medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mix is light & smooth.
  6. Add the remaining ingredients until well-combined then add the fruit mix.
  7. Pour into the mould and cook in the oven for 3 hours, or until the middle is firm. Let cool before removing from the pan.
  8. See tips and tricks for conservation technique.

Tips & tricks

Conservation technique:

  1. Baste every side of the cake with necessary alcohol quantity (appox. ¼ cup).
  2. Wrap the cake air-tight with many layers of plastic wrap and keep in the fridge.
  3. Repeat these steps for a week for the first 2 months then once a month until ready to serve.

*This fruitcake can also be done with water and kept for just as long, without any of the basting, when well wrapped in the refrigerator.

Recipe published on August 19, 2018