Famous Holiday Fruitcakes
Contributed by: Cajun Clark
Ah yes, fruitcake. Seems that either people love it or they hate it, that there's very little room in between. Now that's a bummer, because da ol' mon has gone to great lengths to round up the ingredients. That being said, read on my friend, read on. You may find something you like.
Several years ago there was a television commercial that said
there was only "one" fruitcake and it got sent from household
to household. This was NOT true, 'cause Caj knows that since
his Mother stopped making the Famous Wesson Fruitcake a couple
of replacements were found resulting in four fruitcakes being
mailed every year.
One of those is from Collin Street Bakery, Corsicana, Texas,
http://www.collinstreetbakery.com They've been making their
Classic Christmas Cake since 1896; must have something going
for it, which it does.
The other is from The Smithfield Collection,
http://www.smithfieldcollection.com You'll need to do a product
search for Bakermaid Creole Holiday Fruit Cake. Some of these
webmasters don't make it easy, but in this case it's worth a
little effort. Because not only does this jewel have a unique
taste, it's sliced, individually wrapped, ready to serve.
Finally, for those of you who will never let a fruitcake across
the threshold, you can do like one of Caj's friend's does and
make your own special holiday cake. She makes a
Classic Tomato Soup Cake.
Da ol' mon thinks you'll enjoy the other recipes
and story behind the story.
Now for another Famous Holiday Fruit Cake:
Famous Wesson Fruitcake
This recipe has been around, or so it seems, since the beginning
of time. For many, it's a family standard during the holidays,
an old-time family trend setter.
- 1 cup Wesson oil
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar (firmly packed)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups sifted flour
- 1 cup thinly sliced citron
- 1 1/2 cup whole candied cherries
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 1 cup raisins
- 3 cups coarsely chopped nuts
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup orange juice
HEAT oven to 275°F.
LINE pan with brown paper and lightly grease.
COMBINE sugar and eggs, BEAT till smooth. Then ADD Wesson oil
and BEAT 2 minutes. COMBINE 1 cup flour with fruits and nuts.
SIFT remaining flour with baking powder, salt and spices. STIR
into Wesson mixture alternately with orange juice. POUR batter
over fruit mixture and blend. TURN into pan. PLACE pan of water
on lower rack of oven and BAKE 2 1/2 to 3 hours till done. COOL
on wire racks. REMOVE from pan and PEEL paper off. WRAP in
cloth dampened in whiskey or brandy, then in foil. BEFORE
serving glaze and decorate.
Glaze:
BOIL 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 2
tablespoons water. SIMMER 2 minutes. BRUSH over cake.
Note: Since many of these cakes are made weeks prior to serving,
some Chief Cooks open up the aluminum foil every few days,
sprinkle or brush whiskey or brandy (depending on what was
used initially) on the cloth wrapping, then reseal. This is
a personal preference thing, including the use of whiskey or
brandy in the first place. If memory serves, dry sauterne was
popular in some families. -- Caj.
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Cajun Clark's monster 659-page eCookbook is no longer available. His second cookbook in the series, with nearly 500 recipes
is Sweet & Sassy! http://www.cajunclarkssweetandsassy.com
You can grab a copy of Cajun Clark's Selected Freebies at
http://www.1001Recipes2Send.com/Free/
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