Tulare Fruitcake 2011

Yes its the most wonderful time of the year -  Fruitcake Time! Went to SaveMart (love this store in Porterville) and bought ingredients. Here is the thing - You can make fruitcake taste like the essence of California or wherever you live. Just choose the dried fruit that you love and follow this recipe and I guarantee it will become a family favorite. This year I chose golden raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, dried figs and currants. The soaking phase is key. I use a good California brandy but you can choose bourbon, Wild Turkey or whatever secret family hootch recipe it is that you have been handed down from "Great Uncle Elmer".

Fruitcake is the mirror to your past and reflects your present. Each mouthful can remind you of all the wonderful memories you have this time of the year while it is making more. Remember, it needs to ripen at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator so -  Get Started! And let me know how yours comes out and what your favorite ingredients turn out to be.

This recipe is from my grandmother Emily Brockman Mattos (Ahme to me) who was born to a ranching  family living in the San Joaquin Valley at the turn of the last century. I traced this recipe to one published in the Pacific Railroad Journal but I wrote down her method when I made it with her one Christmas back in the 80's. She used an old wooden bowl handed down from her mother. I swear that bowl gave it a certain flavor that I have never been able to duplicate. But somehow my fruitcake has carried some of the original flavor forward and combined it with my own life story.

Ahme’s Fruit Cake

• 40 ounces dried fruit of your liking - see bottom for one of my choices*
• 4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup plum jam (this is key. purer the better)
• 1 cup brandy and or bourbon
• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups sifted AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp mace
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

*1- 12 oz box of black currants . 24 ounces dried cherry/berry blend OR 16 ounce bag of dried fruit blend(diced) and 8 ounces of dried tart cherries( the golden berry blend is great from Trader Joes),4 ounces golden raisins, 4 ounces glaceed orange rind.

Butter 2 -  9” loaf pans and 4 mini loaf pans. Line with parchment paper and grease paper with shortening or butter.

Combine all dried and glaceed fruits in a glass bowl. Stir in jam,  Pour brandy/bourbon over fruit toss well and let sit overnight or up to 2 days. 

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Cream butter and add sugar. Beat (on med hi with stand mixer) until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients and add to egg/sugar mixture in 3 batches beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Add fruit mixture and nuts and beat on low until combined.

Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake @ 275 for 3 hours and 15 minutes or until tester comes clean. Cool in pan. 

Turn out and remove brown paper. Wrap in cheesecloth and sprinkle on all sides with a tablespoon of brandy(for regular loaf size slightly less for smaller loaves). You can also just sprinkle brandy on the cake but it doesn’t absorb as evenly and I don’t like to do it this way.

Wrap in aluminum foil and “cure” for a week or 3 in a cool place before eating. (After a week I sprinkle on a little more brandy and re-wrap.)

Makes 7 1/2 pounds which sounds like a lot but it isn’t ever enough.