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Mom's Fruitcake

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Submitted by Perogies

Old-fashioned bourbon fruitcake packed with golden raisins, candied cherries, pineapple, citron, pecans, and coconut. Baked low and slow in a tube pan for rich, dense results.

YIELD

2 cakes

PREP

20 min

COOK

2 hrs

READY

2 hrs

This is the real-deal, pounds-of-fruit-and-nuts fruitcake that takes two pans to hold. Golden raisins, maraschino cherries, glaceed pineapple, citron, candied orange and lemon peel, a full quart of pecans, and flaked coconut all get folded into a rich butter batter spiked with bourbon (or rum, your call).

The clever measuring trick here is pure home-cook ingenuity: cream softened butter with a box of powdered sugar, then refill that same box with flour to the same level. No scale, no measuring cups for the flour. It’s imprecise in the best way, and it’s worked for generations.

Tossing half the flour over the chopped fruit and nuts before mixing them into the batter is a must. That flour coating prevents the heavy pieces from sinking to the bottom of the cake during the long, slow bake. Without it, you’d end up with a plain cake on top and a dense fruit layer on the bottom.

Kitchen Tips

  • Bake at 250°F (120°C), not higher. This cake is dense and needs low, slow heat to bake through without burning the outside. Two hours is about right, but check with a skewer.
  • Line the pans with foil and grease well. Fruitcake sticks ferociously to bare pans, and you’ll never get it out cleanly otherwise.
  • Add eggs one at a time and beat after each. Dumping them all in at once breaks the emulsion and the batter curdles.
  • Wrap the cooled cake tightly and brush with extra bourbon every few days for up to a month. It only gets better with age.

Variations

  • Swap bourbon for dark rum for a more tropical, molasses-rich flavor.
  • Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of allspice to the batter for a spiced version.
  • Replace coconut with an equal weight of chopped walnuts if coconut isn’t your thing.

Ingredients

1 ½ 355
CUPS ML BUTTER
softened
1 1
PACKAGE PACKAGE POWDERED SUGAR *
1
X ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
to taste *
6 6
LARGE LARGE EGGS
1 237
CUP ML BOURBON
or rum *
4 60
TABLESPOONS ML VANILLA EXTRACT
1 453.6
POUND G GOLDEN RAISIN
1 453.6
1 453.6
POUND G PINEAPPLE
glace
151.2
POUND G CITRON
glace
¼ 113.4
¼ 113.4
POUND G CANDIED LEMON PEEL *
1 0.9
QUART L PECAN HALVES *
14 404.6
OUNCES ML/G COCONUT
flaked

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Line the bottom and sides of a large tube pan and a small loaf pan with foil, grease the pans.

Chop coarsely the raisins, cherries, pineapple, citron, orange peel, lemon peel and pecan halves.

In large bowl, soften the 3 sticks of butter.

Cream in a box of confectioner’s sugar, then fill box to the same level with flour.

Pour half of the flour over the fruit and nuts; mix thoroughly so all are well-floured.

Add six eggs to butter/sugar, one at a time, while beating.

Add vanilla extract and fold in flour.

Stir in fruits and nuts, fold in liquor.

Pour into cake pans and bake approximately 2 hours.

* not incl. in nutrient facts Arrow up button

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Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 536g (18.9 oz)
Amount per Serving
Calories 1949 65% from fat
 % Daily Value *
Total Fat 141g 217%
Saturated Fat 102g 512%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 500mg 167%
Sodium 650mg 27%
Total Carbohydrate 54g 54%
Dietary Fiber 23g 92%
Sugars g
Protein 51g
Vitamin A 51% Vitamin C 79%
Calcium 19% Iron 64%
* based on a 2,000 calorie diet How is this calculated?
Trans-fat Free, High Fiber
 

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