THE BEST EVER FRUIT AND NUT CAKE !!!i'm not kidding..i thought i'd never see the day that i #1 ate fruitcake let alone #2 made a fruitcake...but this one is well worth it..trust me. i wanted a challenge and the ever so popular...NOT! fruitcake was on my mind...could i possibly make a reasonably good fruitcake? better yet..WOULD i ever make a fruitcake ? then i spotted this one @ Blue Ridge Baker adapted from a recipe by Alice Medrich. Sarah the blogger (great blog by the way. stop in and check her out) reeled me in on this one not just by the craggy-cool photo of her slice, but also her simple explanation that straight out states that this fruitcake will change anyone's mind about the touted fruitcake of yore....
directly below is the original recipe from Blue Ridge Baker
below that are my adds and changes
DRIED FRUIT AND NUT CAKE
adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup palm sugar (though next time I will use more like 1/3 - 1/2 cup)
1 cup dried fruit (I used un-sulphured apricots, cherries and figs) chopped into medium-sized pieces.
2 cups medjool dates, quartered
3 cups walnut halves
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 300. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan with parchment. Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and palm sugar in large bowl. Add dried fruit and nuts and toss with your hands. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract. Pour into large bowl, toss until all of the fruit and nuts appear well-coated. It will not look like there is enough batter to form a cake, but trust me, there is. Pour into prepared loaf pan, and smooth as well as you can. Bake for about 1 hour 15 - 1 hour 20 minutes. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over it. After removing from oven, let the cake sit in the load pan for about 5 minutes, then, using the edges of the parchment, lift the loaf out and cool on rack for 45 minutes before cutting into it.
adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup palm sugar (though next time I will use more like 1/3 - 1/2 cup)
1 cup dried fruit (I used un-sulphured apricots, cherries and figs) chopped into medium-sized pieces.
2 cups medjool dates, quartered
3 cups walnut halves
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 300. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan with parchment. Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and palm sugar in large bowl. Add dried fruit and nuts and toss with your hands. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract. Pour into large bowl, toss until all of the fruit and nuts appear well-coated. It will not look like there is enough batter to form a cake, but trust me, there is. Pour into prepared loaf pan, and smooth as well as you can. Bake for about 1 hour 15 - 1 hour 20 minutes. If it looks like it is browning too quickly, place a foil tent over it. After removing from oven, let the cake sit in the load pan for about 5 minutes, then, using the edges of the parchment, lift the loaf out and cool on rack for 45 minutes before cutting into it.
BELOW IS MY VERSION WITH ADDS AND CHANGES
the directions are the same but i added quite a few things that i think worked reeeeeally well. i added quite a bit more fruit and nuts and the small amount of batter took to it and held it all together.
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
i used 1/2 cup slightly packed light brown sugar instead of palm sugar
added 1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 cups dates-quartered
3/4 cup golden California figs-diced large
2/3 c. dried cranberries
2/3 c. dried apricots-diced large
1 3/4 walnut halves
1 1/2 cups pecans
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
9 comments:
I'm so glad you tried it out and loved it! It really is the best fruitcake ever. Yours looks wonderful, and the additions you made sound great, too - I like the idea of the cayenne a lot. Thanks for linking me!
wow that looks sooo good!
lol...Whenever I see fruitcake I wonder, "What if..." I've never considered making my own, but for sure it would have to be better than something from a store shelf. Hmmmmm.... ;)
This was so good! I baked another one the next day and changed the fruit to dried apples, raisins and dates. Both turned out great and were DELICIOUS.
Wow, that looks GREAT! Maybe I will have to break down and make fruitcake after all...thanks for sharing!
Your photos are amazing. I'm too jealous!
This is an amazing recipe and so versatile. I used to make an adapted version of this recipe when I worked at Zov's Bistro and Bakery. Love it, Love it!
fruitcake gift give-always. I am now aggrieved that I kept only the smallest loaf for myself.
The cardamon and cayenne slices are great flavor enhancers. How did you think of adding them?
I’m addicted to this easy nut and fruit packed loaf.
Please note: some of my dried fruits were really really dry. I often save dried fruits in back of a drawer in my fridge in prep for holiday baking.
The night before my baking day, I chopped and mixed the fruits, but also lightly spritzed the fruit with whatever I was drinking (either red wine or brandy... can’t remember which).
Thank you thank you ...thank you? My search of the Best Ever Fruitcake recipe is now over. ❤️
This will be my 8th year of making these & there is no better,i make 5-6 loafs and keep 3 for myself.I make it just as your have it written & it yummy,filling,heavy & delicious!
Post a Comment