May 12, 2010

Traditional Fruitcake

cake, Christmas, holiday, nuts

Presented by

42 ratings

Prep time: 10 minutes
baking time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 12

One taste of Grandma’s delectable fruitcake, and the ‘doorstop’ jokes were replaced with contented sighs.

Ingredients

3 cups walnut halves
1 (4-ounce) package candied pineapple
1 (8-ounce) package each candied cherries and chopped dates
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and salt
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons dark rum or 1 tablespoon rum extract
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan with lightly greased waxed paper.
2

Stir together walnuts, pineapple, cherries and dates in large bowl; set aside.
3

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Sift over nut mixture. Lightly toss dry ingredients and nut mixture until nut mixture is well coated. Blend in eggs, rum, orange zest and vanilla extract. Spread batter in prepared loaf pan.
4

Bake until golden, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool fruitcake completely in pan on wire rack before removing fruitcake from pan.

Grandma's Secret Trick

In addition to her wonderful recipe, one reason for Grandma's fruitcake success was how she served it. Unlike other types of cakes, thick pieces were a no-no. First, Grandma refrigerated the fruitcake because the sticky fruit slices more easily when cold. Then she used a thin-bladed, nonserrated knife to cut thin slices. Finally, she served the fruitcake slices topped with a dollop of cinnamon-spiced whipped cream. It was the best!