Grandma Cardiff's Fruitcake
This recipe is originally from the Toronto Star, published by Mary McGrath, who was apparently "The Star Home Economist". I wish I had that title. Anyway. The recipe title was, "Willis Davidson's Fruitcake". My grandmother cut it out to keep, gave it to my mother, and my mother added her own hand-written modifications:
Every Christmas, my maternal grandmother, and then my mother, would pull the tinfoil- and cheesecloth-wrapped loaves from the fridge to slice up for everyone to enjoy.
It's all very gauzy and Dickensian, but in all honesty, this fruitcake is amazing. Since it's the only one I grew up eating, I never really understood the whole "use the fruitcake as a doorstop!" trope.
Then one year, I bought some grocery store fruitcake. I saw that it had icing, which I thought was weird, but hey, fruitcake, right? Wrong. It was dry. There was peel in it. It tasted like damp newspaper wrapped around old apples. No wonder it needed icing.
That said, this recipe is very dense and sweet, and not to everyone's taste. But if you like dense, sweet, moist fruitcake, you should really try this one. If you're not sure, I'd say that if you really like sticky toffee pudding, you might like this. It has a similar density, moistness, and flavour profile, though the sweet notes are more fruity, and naturally it has the toothy bits of almond and pineapple.
The recipe has been modified from its original. I substitute an equal part of candied pineapple for the candied peel. I also sometimes skip the currants and use Flame Raisins instead. The currants have little crunchy seeds in them which are not to everyone's taste, but they're also less sweet than the raisins.
I think the original also calls for some raisins with seeds in them, but that was when everything was Mad Men and sexual harassment, and we have better options now.
Don't use a garbage brandy if you're going to the trouble of making this. Don't spend a fortune, but get the one-up-from-the-cheapest brandy you can find.
Grandma Cardiff's Fruitcake
(modified from a recipe in the Toronto Star)
N.B. This is a two-day process, so be prepared!
FRUIT MIXTURE
2 1/2 cups of chopped dates (I use the pre-chopped dextrose-covered ones I can get at Bulk Barn)
2 cups candied pineapple
2 cups of Thompson raisins
2 cups of Sultana raisins
1 1/2 cups currants
1 1/2 cups blanched whole almonds
1 1/2 cups drained red maraschino cherries chopped (NOT glacée cherries!)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup brandy
PINEAPPLE MIXTURE
19 oz. (561 mL) can of crushed pineapple
1/2 cup of liquid from the cherries
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup strawberry jam
DRY INGREDIENTS
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
BUTTER MIXTURE
1 pound salted butter
12 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
DAY ONE:
In large bowl, mix together dates, pineapple, raisins, currants, almonds and drained cherries. Stir in brandy, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand overnight. Turn the mixture occasionally to allow brandy to soak into the fruit.
In a saucepan combine crushed pineapple and 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered stirring frequently, for 40-45 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in strawberry jam and cherry liquid until mixed. You should now have around 4 cups of mixture.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
DAY TWO:
Line your loaf pans with parchment paper, trimming edges if necessary.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and allspice. Add one cup of flour mixture to the fruit mixture, toss to thoroughly coat fruit.
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 cups of sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time blending well after each. Alternately stir small amounts of the flour mixture and pineapple mixture into the butter mixture. Blend well.
Stir in fruit mixture.
Spoon batter into pans. Fill your pans almost to the rim of the pan; the mixture does not rise much, so leave about one quarter inch or less space between mixture and rim of pan.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees and place a large, shallow pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Place loaf pans on middle rack and bake for between 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours. Bake until the cakes are golden brown and a tester comes out clean. Also press lightly on the top of the cakes and if they are fairly firm they are done.
Remove cakes from oven and let cool slightly. Remove from pans, peel off paper and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Soak some cheesecloth in some extra brandy. Wrap the cakes in a few layers of the damp cheesecloth. Then wrap in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Store in the fridge or freezer.
Every Christmas, my maternal grandmother, and then my mother, would pull the tinfoil- and cheesecloth-wrapped loaves from the fridge to slice up for everyone to enjoy.
It's all very gauzy and Dickensian, but in all honesty, this fruitcake is amazing. Since it's the only one I grew up eating, I never really understood the whole "use the fruitcake as a doorstop!" trope.
Then one year, I bought some grocery store fruitcake. I saw that it had icing, which I thought was weird, but hey, fruitcake, right? Wrong. It was dry. There was peel in it. It tasted like damp newspaper wrapped around old apples. No wonder it needed icing.
That said, this recipe is very dense and sweet, and not to everyone's taste. But if you like dense, sweet, moist fruitcake, you should really try this one. If you're not sure, I'd say that if you really like sticky toffee pudding, you might like this. It has a similar density, moistness, and flavour profile, though the sweet notes are more fruity, and naturally it has the toothy bits of almond and pineapple.
The recipe has been modified from its original. I substitute an equal part of candied pineapple for the candied peel. I also sometimes skip the currants and use Flame Raisins instead. The currants have little crunchy seeds in them which are not to everyone's taste, but they're also less sweet than the raisins.
I think the original also calls for some raisins with seeds in them, but that was when everything was Mad Men and sexual harassment, and we have better options now.
Don't use a garbage brandy if you're going to the trouble of making this. Don't spend a fortune, but get the one-up-from-the-cheapest brandy you can find.
Grandma Cardiff's Fruitcake
(modified from a recipe in the Toronto Star)
N.B. This is a two-day process, so be prepared!
FRUIT MIXTURE
2 1/2 cups of chopped dates (I use the pre-chopped dextrose-covered ones I can get at Bulk Barn)
2 cups candied pineapple
2 cups of Thompson raisins
2 cups of Sultana raisins
1 1/2 cups currants
1 1/2 cups blanched whole almonds
1 1/2 cups drained red maraschino cherries chopped (NOT glacée cherries!)
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup brandy
PINEAPPLE MIXTURE
19 oz. (561 mL) can of crushed pineapple
1/2 cup of liquid from the cherries
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup strawberry jam
DRY INGREDIENTS
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
BUTTER MIXTURE
1 pound salted butter
12 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
DAY ONE:
In large bowl, mix together dates, pineapple, raisins, currants, almonds and drained cherries. Stir in brandy, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand overnight. Turn the mixture occasionally to allow brandy to soak into the fruit.
In a saucepan combine crushed pineapple and 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered stirring frequently, for 40-45 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat, stir in strawberry jam and cherry liquid until mixed. You should now have around 4 cups of mixture.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
DAY TWO:
Line your loaf pans with parchment paper, trimming edges if necessary.
In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and allspice. Add one cup of flour mixture to the fruit mixture, toss to thoroughly coat fruit.
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 cups of sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time blending well after each. Alternately stir small amounts of the flour mixture and pineapple mixture into the butter mixture. Blend well.
Stir in fruit mixture.
Spoon batter into pans. Fill your pans almost to the rim of the pan; the mixture does not rise much, so leave about one quarter inch or less space between mixture and rim of pan.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees and place a large, shallow pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven. Place loaf pans on middle rack and bake for between 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours. Bake until the cakes are golden brown and a tester comes out clean. Also press lightly on the top of the cakes and if they are fairly firm they are done.
Remove cakes from oven and let cool slightly. Remove from pans, peel off paper and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Soak some cheesecloth in some extra brandy. Wrap the cakes in a few layers of the damp cheesecloth. Then wrap in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Store in the fridge or freezer.
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