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Ultimate Fruitcake BIG BATCH

Source of Recipe


I found this recipe in Chatelaine magazine/ nov 1998






List of Ingredients



• 8 oz whole blanched almonds, about 1-3/4 cups
  
• 15oz seeded raisins, about 2 cups
  
• 12oz seedless raisins, about 2 cups
  
• 8oz currants
  
• 1 lb cut citron or mixed peel, about 2 cups
  
• 1 lb pitted dates
  
• 3/4 cup brandy or cognac
  
• 2 (375 ml) bottles of red maraschino cherries
  
• 19oz (540 ml) can of crushed pineapple, about 2 cups
  
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
  
• 1cup of strawberry jam
  
• 1/4 cup of brandy or cognac
  
• 
  
• -BATTER-
  
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  
• 1/2teaspoon ground cloves
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 1 lb butter at room temperature
  
• 2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  
• 12 Large Eggs
  






Instructions



1. DAY 1Place almonds, raisins, currants, and citron in Large mixing bowl. Slice dates. They should measure 2 1/2 cups. Stir into the almond mixture with 3/4 cup of brandy. Saving 1/4 cup juice, drain cherries and thickly slice. Stir cherries in to nut mixture. Cover and set aside at room temerature overnight. Stir occasionally.
   
   
2. In a large saucepan,stir pineapple, including juice, and 2 cups sugar. Simmer, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 30 min. Stir often near the end of cooking time to prevent burning. Remove Pan from heat. Stir in jam, 1/4 cup of cherry juice and1/4 cup brandy. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   
   
3. DAY 2Choose baking pans at least 3 inches high and altogether will hold 24 cups (6 litres) of batter, such as a set of 3 graduated wedding cake pans - a 7 1/2 inch, a 5 1/2 inch,and a 4 inch pan- and an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Baked cakes will be 2 1/2 inches high. Grease pans. line with heavy paper or aluminum foil. Grease paper or foil well.
   
   
4. BAKINGTo make batter, preheat oven to 275F.In a large bowl, stir in flour with spices, salt,and baking soda until blended. Sprinkle 1 cup of this mixture over almond-raisin mixture. Toss until all fruit is lightly coated. Set aside.
   
   
5. Using an electric mixer, beat butter with 2 1/4 cups sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in one-third of flour mixture followed by half of pineapple mixture. Repeat, ending with flour mixture.
   
   
6. Pour over flour coated raisins and almonds. Mix with your hands until fruit is coated. Divide between prepared pans leaving a 1 inch space at top of pans for batter to rise. Smooth tops.
   
   
7. Bake in centre of 275 F oven. After cakes have baked for 1 hour , loosely lay aluminum foil over tops of pans to prevent cakes from darkening. Cakes are done when they are fairly firm to touch in centre and a skewer inserted in centre right to the bottom comes out clean. A small loaf takes about 2 3/4 hours; a 7-1/2 inch square pan takes 3 1/2 hours.
   
   
8. As cakes are done, remove from oven. Place pans on a rack to cool for 15-30 minutes. Then turn out cakes. Peel off paper and cool completely on racks.
   
   
9. To store, wrap cakes in brandy - soaked cheesecloth, if you wish. Tightly cover with plastic wrap. Overwrap in foil and store in a cool place or the refrigerator. Cakes will keep well for months.
   
   






Final Comments


I Always use rum instead of brandy. I use cheap aluminum throw away loaf pans and grease them well instead of messing about with lining other pans. They are rather flimsy to hold heavy batter so I solve this by placing them on 2 cookie sheets. I put 4 batter filled loaf pans on each cookie sheet and place them in the oven. One cookie sheet per oven shelf. I move the loaf pans around during cooking moving the outer ones to the middle to facilitate even cooking of the cakes.
Nutrients per 1 ounce slice
0.7g prot; 1.7 g fat; 8.8g carbohydrate; 55 calories