Fruitcake -Friend or Foe

When I hear the word fruitcake, two vivid images come to mind. The

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first one is the solid, square brick of a fruitcake that comes in a plastic-lined paper box that is sold in the grocery store under the name of fruitcake, the same one that you probably thought of when you read this scary word. I am here to tell you – they are FAKE!  IMPOSTORS!

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… or Moms? What a difference!

Real, EDIBLE fruitcakes can only be found home made in someone’s kitchen, brimming with love and holiday cheer (you can’t mass produce this kind of seasonal joy with machines in a factory). These real recipes exist, but are few and far between. They are often hidden deep within the kitchen vaults of such home chefs, guarded by kitchen witches and a wall of spices, only to be taken out in the early morning hours a month before Christmas. These vanilla-stained, dog-eared copies are next to impossible to come by.

Mom’s fine-tuned recipe

But fret not! I have one such recipe in my possession, and shall share it with you. Mom Leona was the holiday-cheer creator, and the recipe was renowned throughout the Allegheny Valley for its absolute perfection in capturing the holiday spirit in one weighty, fruity loaf of lusciousness. I remember one year she made them in bulk – like 40 fruitcakes – to give as gifts. In the process, she inadvertently  got a rubber spatula in the mixing beaters, which took a tiny nip out of the rubber scraper. Only, she didn’t realize it until they were all done. It was the 70’s, our money was tight, and Mom had spent quite a bit to purchase all of the ingredients for all of the Lugar and Curry clan that lived in the area. She fretted quite a bit about this quandary, and finally she decided she had no choice but to still give them as gifts. As she gave each

Uncle Gus (…notice the cigar)

perfectly wrapped cake my aunts and uncles that holiday season, she also explained what happened and gave a warning to be on the lookout for the bit of rubber as they enjoyed their cake. My Dad’s oldest brother, Gus, had quite a bit of fun giving my Mom a rough time that holiday season, and the rest of that year, saying he choked on the piece of rubber. To my recollection, the piece never was found. However, after all of that fuss from Uncle Gus, my Mom made him a special fruit cake the next year, just for him — with an entire wooden spoon sticking straight up out of the center of the cake!

This year is the first year I’m going to carry-on her fruitcake tradition (without the rubber bit or wooden spoon of course!). If all you have ever met are the fruitcake impostors from the grocery store, you are in for a real treat! Without further ado (my daughter #2, Logan, stopped by for a visit and stayed to help, so you may see my lovely assistant in a shot or two)…

1. Grease pans. Line the bottoms with waxed paper (grease the wax paper too). You will need enough loaf pans, cans, or whatever containers you are using to hold a total of 11 cups.
2. Boil applesauce, shortening, and sugar together for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (Alright – I see a pattern of Crisco in these holiday recipes (see Gobs) – I will try to get over my Crisco hangup…). Let stand until cool.

3. Mix fruit and nuts together in a very large mixing bowl. (And I do mean VERY large bowl. We started with my biggest mixing bowl, and we had to switch to my Mom’s Syrian Bread mixing bowl that is ginormous!)

Cherries, pineapple, citron, and dates – we thought we had plenty of room.

Raisins and pecans added, we realized we were out of room …

… the Syrian bread bowl was our solution!

4. Sift together flour, soda, and spices over the fruit and nuts, mixing until each piece of fruit is coated.

Logan busily sifting (no matter how old they get, their favorite job!)

yeah – this GIANT bowl works much better!

5. Stir in cooled applesauce mixture.

6. Turn into your greased and lined pans. Decorate the top of the cake with pecan/walnut halves and cherries if desired (Mom would design at least one flower on top [pecan half “petals with a candied cherry center].

Before baking…

… decorated and waiting!

7. Bake in a very slow oven (250 degrees) about two hours, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

8. When cakes are browned as desired, cover with brown paper. Remove baked cake from pans and cool on rack. Store in moisture proof wrap in a cold place, or freeze. Mellow at least two weeks before cutting.

TA DA!!!!!

This recipe makes ALOT of fruitcake! This one recipe made 10 mini loafs and three small loaves! (PS~ Logan and I decided there is such a stigma attached to the name Fruitcake, we are going to call them Christmas Cakes…)  🙂

Print

Leona's Fruitcake

A fruit cake like no other - people will come back asking for more!

Course Dessert

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 3 hours

Servings 14 servings

Author Leona Louise (Lugar) Curry Mock

Ingredients

• 3 cups thick applesauce
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 pound dates, pitted and chopped
• 1 pound light or dark raisins
• 1 pound pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 pound candied cherries, quartered
• 1/4 pound candied pineapple, chopped
• 1/4 pound citron, finely chopped
• 4-1/2 cups sifted flour
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 2-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Grease pans. Line the bottoms with waxed paper (grease the wax paper too). You will need enough loaf pans, cans, or whatever containers you are using to hold a total of 11 cups.

2. Boil applesauce, shortening, and sugar together for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let stand until cool.

3. Mix fruit and nuts together in a very large mixing bowl.

4. Sift together flour, soda, and spices over the fruit and nuts, mixing until each piece of fruit is coated.

5. Stir in cooled applesauce mixture.

6. Turn into your greased and lined pans. Decorate the top of the cake with pecan/walnut halves and cherries if desired (Mom would design at least one flower on top [pecan half "petals with a candied cherry center].

7. Bake in a very slow oven (250 degrees) about two hours, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

8. When cakes are browned as desired, cover with brown paper. Remove baked cake from pans and cool on rack. Store in moisture proof wrap in a cold place, or freeze. Mellow at least two weeks before cutting.

Recipe Notes

Baking Chart

11 X 4-1/2 X 2-3/4 loaf pan--- bake 2-1/2 hours

9 X 5 X 3 loaf pan --- bake 3 hours

4-1/2 X 2-1/2 X 1-1/2 mini loaf pan (use 3/4 cup batter in each pan) --- bake 60 minutes

 

Do not crowd pans. Bake with a pan of hot water on the bottom rack. Larger pans should be placed on a shallow pan of boiling water.

Reduce oven temperature 25 degrees if using glass containers.