Good Fruitcake
- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Butter for pans
- 1pound pitted Medjool dates
- ½pound prunes from Agen or use more dates
- 1pound candied pineapple
- 1pound candied cherries
- 1cup chopped candied orange peel, or ¼ cup freshly grated orange zest
- 2cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons double acting baking powder
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
- 4eggs
- 1cup granulated sugar
- 2teaspoons almond extract
- 2cups shelled salted pistachios
- 1cup shelled almonds
- 2½cups shelled pecans
- 2cups shelled walnuts
- White corn syrup
- ⅓cup Armagnac, bourbon or whiskey
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Preparation
- Step 1
Butter two 9-inch springform pans. Line with parchment paper, and butter again. Heat oven to 275 degrees.
- Step 2
Coarsely chop dates, prunes and pineapple. Combine fruit in a bowl with cherries and orange peel. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift this over fruit. With your hands, toss to coat.
- Step 3
In medium bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Beat in sugar, then almond extract. Pour over fruit. With wooden spoon, mix well. Fold in pistachios, almonds, pecans and walnuts, and mix until coated with batter.
- Step 4
Divide mixture between pans. Using your hands, pack batter firmly and fill in open spaces. Bake for about 1½ hours, until tops of cakes look dry but not brown. When cakes are done, transfer to cooling racks. Let stand for 5 minutes, then release springform and peel off parchment paper on sides.
- Step 5
While cakes are still hot, brush lightly with corn syrup. Let cool 30 minutes, then spoon Armagnac on top. When completely cool, remove cakes from pan base and peel off parchment paper on bottom. If not eating right away, wrap fruitcakes in plastic wrap. They will keep for two months in refrigerator. If storing, sprinkle with more Armagnac an hour before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I used canned cherries and dried pineapple instead of the candied stuff, and fresh orange zest as suggested. I also added 2 Tbsp of bourbon to the batter. The result was the best fruitcake I've ever had. I halved the recipe to make just one cake, but next time I'll make a few full recipes to give as Christmas gifts!
The next time I make this recipe I will use rum instead of bourbon, and I will soak the fruit in rum overnight. I loved the texture and nuttiness of this fruitcake but the recipe disappointed a bit in the flavor department (compared to King Arthur's Everyone's Favorite Fruitcake Recipe). I will also substitute the much cheaper common prune for the Agens. Agen prunes are plump and delicious but that doesn't really come through in the end product here (in my opinion).
Using a giant bowl to mix the batter with nuts makes life a lot easier. Also, when pushing the batter into the pan, damp hands make the process less sticky. And finally, 3 9 x 5 bread pans can replace the two 9” springform pans.
And yes, I DO make it for myself. Thank you very much. It was delicious. I deserve it.
Made this at Christmas, half recipe because, only one spring pan and no humongous bowls. Then mixed another batch while the first one baked. Half a dozen batches since then, subbing in all kinds of fruit, papaya, kiwi, mango. And coconut. Batches are now about 2/3 instead of 1/2; added more flour and another egg, some vanilla too. Keeps very well in the fridge, sliced into 2-oz wedges. It’s now my main sweet, haven’t bought chocolate, cookies or ice cream in months.
Would love to send pictures
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