Make and Age

Last year I made this fruit cake.  It was an amazing experience.  The alcohol vapors kept exploding, blowing the oven door open and rattling the windows.  I over cooked it but it was super good.  It is adapted from a recipe that was adapted from the Joy of Cooking.

INGREDIENTS

-4 cups all-purpose flour

-2 tablespoons cinnamon

-1 tablespoon nutmeg

-1/4 teaspoon ground clove

-1 teaspoon mace

-1 1/2 teaspoon salt

-7 pounds dried fruit (I used 1lb mission figs, 2lbs dates, 1lb raisns, 1lb currants, 1lb appricots, and 1lb cranberries)

-1 pound brown sugar

-1 pound butter plus one half stick

-15 eggs

-1/2 cup red wine

-a 750ml bottle of Evan Williams bourbon

This recipe makes about TWELVE POUNDS OF FRUIT CAKE!!!  I baked it in disposable aluminum loaf pans: a small one that holds about 1 pound, and a large one (almost full bread loaf size) that holds about 2 pounds.  

TOOLS

-Pastry brush or paper towel for buttering pans

Electric mixer

-Loaf pans

-Mixing bowls

-Big paper bag

-Scissors (they are really good for cutting up the fruit quickly)

INSTRUCTIONS

-Preheat oven to 300F

-Put one cup of flower in the paper bag

-Cut up the fruit, remove pits, and put the fruit in the paper bag

-Close the bag and shake until the fruit is coverd with flower (You'll be sorry later if you skip this step.)

-Put one pound of butter on the stove (use low heat) to melt.

-While butter is slowly melting, sift remaining flower and all the spices into LARGE mixing bowl

-Mix brown sugar into the melted butter

-Mix the flour/spices, eggs, and wine into the LARGE mixing bowl and mix with the electric mixer until completely smooth

- Dump the fruit from the bag into the LARGE mixing bowl annd mix mix mix

- melt the 1/2 stick of butter and use it to grease the loaf pans

- Plan on baking for two hours.  Every 10 to 15 mintues you haveto splash the loaves with bourbon. DO NOT LET THE TOPS OF THE CAKES DRY OUT!!!

When you take them out of the oven pour more bourbon on the cakes.  When they are cool enough to dump out of the pans wrap in plastic foodwrap andaluminu, foil.  Every day for a week add more bourbon.  Not a lot, just enough to keep the loaves very moist butnot soggy. If you run out of bourbon GO BUY MORE!!!