Best Fruit Cake Old Gourmet Magazine Recipes

WHITE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Chop pineapple, raisins, and cherries. Combine chopped fruit with currants, orange peel, and citron; soak in orange juice overnight.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Place a small pan of water in the oven. Line one 5x9 inch loaf pan and two 3x8 inch loaf pans with parchment or doubled waxed paper.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioner's sugar. Stir in beaten egg yolks. Stir in fruit, juice, and pecans. Mix in sifted flour.
• In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to peaks. Fold into batter. Fill pans 2/3 full.
• Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until golden brown, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

WHITE HOUSE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combine the raisins, currants, candied fruits, glazed fruits, candied pineapple, pecans and almonds with the bourbon and brandy in a large bowl. Refrigerate overnight, or if possible, for two days.
• Beat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, honey, one-third cup of all-purpose flour, grated lemon rind, almond and vanilla extracts until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Sift together one cup of all-purpose flour, one cup of cake flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon together. Add to the batter and beat until well mixed. Combine batter with the fruit and nut mixture, mixing well.
• Grease three 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch pans. Line the bottoms and sides with aluminum foil; grease the foil. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing tops.
• Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until the centers spring back when lightly pressed. If tops are browning too fast, cover lightly with buttered foil.
• While the cakes are baking, bring the apricot preserves to a hard boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to reduce.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and while they are still hot, sprinkle with the rum. Then brush with the hot apricot jam.
• Mix enough bourbon with confectioners' sugar and butter to make a frosting that is thin enough to spread on top of the apricot jam while the cakes are still warm.
• Cool cakes in pans on wire rack. Allow frosting to dry. Remove cakes from pans; peel off foil. Cool completely. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Cake should be sliced chilled.

CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine well the glacéed fruits, the raisins, the currants, 1/2 cup of the cherries, 1/2 cup of the angelica, and 3/4 cup of the rum and let the fruits macerate, covered, overnight.
• Line the bottom of a well-buttered 9 1/2-inch springform pan with a round of wax paper and butter the paper. Into a small bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the nutmeg, and the ginger. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Drain the fruit mixture in a sieve set over the batter and beat the juices into the batter. Pat the fruits dry between several thicknesses of paper towels and in a bowl toss them with 1/3 cup of the flour mixture. Stir in the remaining flour mixture into the batter, one fourth at a time, stir in the fruit mixture, the ground almonds, and the walnuts, stirring until the mixture is just combined, and turn the batter out into the prepared pan.
• Put 2 loaf pans, each filled with hot water, in a preheated 300°F. oven and put the springform pan between them. Bake the cake for 1 hour, brush the top with the remaining egg, beaten lightly, and bake the cake for 1 hour more. While the cake is baking, in a saucepan melt the apricot jam with the remaining 1 tablespoon rum over moderate heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and strain it through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids.
• Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes, remove the side of the pan, and invert the cake onto the rack. Remove the pan bottom and the wax paper very carefully, invert the cake onto another rack, and let it cool completely. Arrange the additional cherries and angelica decoratively on the cake, brush the top of the cake with some of the apricot glaze, reserving the remaining glaze for another use, and store the cake, wrapped in plastic wrap and foil. The cake keeps, covered, for 6 months.