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11/2/2006 7:51:52 AM
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Les
Posts 4243
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I know that I`m probably viewed as one myself at times. Mom and Dad will be here this weekend and I got thinking of activities and thought maybe I`d make a Christmas Fruitcake with Mom - her tried and true light fruitcake that I grew up with. Now is the time to make it so it will ripen before Christmas.
In Canada, fruitcake is a pretty common tradition at Christmas and we also make our wedding cakes with fruitcake. It`s one of those things that you either like it or you don`t. I do like it but much prefer the light fruitcake to the dark. I don`t make it every year and have found a great one at the Christmas market that I usually buy.
Any thoughts on fruitcake?
Les
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11/2/2006 7:59:25 AM
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bets
Posts 18976
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I like to make it. But my recipe is really limited-red and green candied cherries, golden raisins and pecans. I hate rum, so I leave that out. Bourbon is ok, but I could do without that too. Wonder what something with an amaretto taste would do, or cherry kirsch?
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11/2/2006 8:05:56 AM
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SeeJayneKnit
Posts 5237
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I grew up in a fruitcake family.
LOL -- what a great first line for a story that would be. :)
I like the dark. My mom makes great fruitcake and usually makes one for me since I`m the only one in my now-family that likes it. (you can take the girl out of the fruitcake, but you can`t take the fruitcake out of the girl).
I guess maybe I should learn to make it for myself...
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11/2/2006 8:07:14 AM
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SeeJayneKnit
Posts 5237
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Oh yeah..and because DH hates fruitcake so much, we had pound cake for our wedding cake.
DH used to give my mom those "insulting" fruitcake cards at Christmas every year.
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11/2/2006 8:50:10 AM
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Amy QOY
Posts 3839
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Love homemade fruitcake. My aunt used to make the fruitcake drop cookies. It`s funny, fruitcake is such a punchline for Christmas jokes, but in my mind that only applies to bought fruitcake, not homemade. DMIL makes them every year.
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11/2/2006 9:07:23 AM
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Billie
Posts 2646
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Fruitcake was one of those "acquired taste" foods. When I was a kid, I found the smell repulsive...I hated the stuff . Now, I really enjoy it; I hoard it & hope that I don`t have to share!
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11/2/2006 10:21:50 AM
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Guest
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It`s just not Christmas if I don`t make Fruitcake. I prefer the dark one and DH likes the light so I make both each year. Most of it is given away to my DDs, Mum and Aunt but we manage to keep enough for ourselves. The dark recipie is from my Mother-in-law`s Mum and the light is my Mother-in-law`s.
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11/2/2006 11:13:28 AM
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CatBookMom
Posts 6264
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I am pro-fruitcake. In spite of it being the butt of jokes, that`s my story and I`m sticking with it. But I haven`t had any in years, since I have no one to share one with.
DH has recipes of his mother`s that make `fruit bread`, one has halved cranberries and walnuts, the other is banana bread with maraschino cherries and chocolate chips. These are gone in instants, lol!
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11/2/2006 2:13:54 PM
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Guest
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I, too, come from a fruitcake family. I LOVE it. I prefer the dark, but of course, I`ll eat the light. It CANNOT be dry; that is gross beyond words. I like mine soaked in bourban (Maker`s Mark). My late aunt gave me her recipes 30 years ago, and I have been making them ever since. I also have her Gumdrop Fruitcake recipe, which really isn`t fruitcake, but it is a big hit around the holidays. E-mail me if you want the recipe - it`s a keeper.
I never knew Canadians had fruitcake for wedding cake! Wow.
Trish
www.mymerinomantra.typepad.com
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11/2/2006 2:20:55 PM
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SeeJayneKnit
Posts 5237
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Oh yeah...fruitcake for wedding cake is an entrenched tradition. I think everyone in my parents` generation had that. People my age and younger have been making changes. My sister had a rice Krispie cake. It was gorgeous!
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11/2/2006 2:30:36 PM
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CatBookMom
Posts 6264
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OK, I just got done absorbing the Canadian tradition of a fruitcake for wedding cake. Now you`ve thrown another curve - rice krispie cake? Let`s just say `STICKY!`
For my first wedding I had two cakes, a 2-tiered white cake as the `bride`s` cake and a chocolate sheet cake for the groom. For my second, there was no reception, lol.
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11/2/2006 7:16:19 PM
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Theresa fom Queensb
Posts 818
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I`d heard of this fruitcake wedding cake thing...but didn`t know it was still done in Canada.
Here, it is pretty much some yellow or sponge cake, usually stale. I had carrot cake for mine, which was a total departure at the time but I know people who have done it since.
I love dark Fruitcake, ML loves dark fruitcake, but I think she only ever made it once, because it was so expensive. I used to get a really nice one from Costco, but they haven`t had it the past two years...with all this talk of homemade, though, I am considering carroling VERY far afield this year....
T, licking her chops
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11/2/2006 8:04:37 PM
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evelyn
Posts 990
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Let me tell yhou about making fruitcake.
When my children were young, I wanted to instill in them all the beautiful Christmas traditions that I loved so much.
I decided to make my own fruitcake so I found the best recipe. I bought all the fruit in September and soaked it in red wine until late November. I don`t know if you are supposed to do that but I thought it was a cool idea.
Then one evening I decided, "this is the time to make my cake". I had to do it in the evening,as my kids kept me pretty busy during the day and also (mostly) I`m a night person. So about seven or eight o`clock I started. This particular cake was to be cooked in an angel cake pan with the hole in the center. I mixed up all this fruit until my arms were aching and then put it into the pan. Then....I checked the recipe to see how long to set the timer for. By now it`s getting to be around 11 pm. The recipe said to put the cake on the lowest rack in the oven for 5 hours. What!!! that`s the middle of the night. There was no turning back now so it went into the oven and the timer was set for 4 am along with my alarm clock.
When the alarm went off, I staggered downstairs to the kitchen, half asleep, and took the beautiful cake out of the oven. Since angel cake is always turned upside down after coming out of the oven, I assumed this cake was too. So I turned it upside down, and crash, the whole %$#@%^& cake landed on the floor. Turns out my oven quit shortly after I put the cake into the oven. I scooped it up off the floor and went back to bed. In the morning I took it to my girlfriends house and finished the cooking. It was the best cake I have ever had, although it had a few cat hairs in it. I gave a big piece to my boss. He had never had it before and he loved it. So I got the last laugh.
Evelyn
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11/2/2006 9:21:24 PM
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Alice Trueman
Posts 1784
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We had fruitcake for birthdays, too, at home. My totally undomesticated mother could make very good fruit cake and sponge cake, but no other kinds. She used a metal knitting needle to test the middle of fruitcakes.
They have the great advantage that they can be made a long time ahead and kept moist with brandy or whatever until the wedding day, or anniversary. They improve with age.
Alice
Salt Spring Island
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11/3/2006 5:06:50 AM
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Guest
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It is becoming less and less popular now at weddings. I had 3 daughters married over 10 years ago and only the oldest had fruit cake as the Groom`s cake. It was traditionally wrapped in foil with a ribbon and served by the groom while the bride was serving her white cake.
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11/3/2006 5:42:30 AM
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Theresa fom Queensb
Posts 818
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Evelyn, ROFLMAO!!! That is EXACTLY the kind of thing that would happen to me...
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11/3/2006 9:18:54 AM
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Jamie
Posts 3462
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Les, Your note triggered an old memory. When my sister married in 1948 my mother (and others?) prepared fruit cake to send home with guests. It was wrapped in wax paper (as I remember). This is a long time ago but I can remember the little pieces of fruitcake being given to guests.
I like fruitcake and always prefer the lighter type. My brother in Washington, D.C. sends some sort of fruitcake for Christmas. It makes a good treat for receptions. Also, I tend to eat a lot at home!
Happy holidays to all what have family around to cook for! Jamie
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11/4/2006 6:05:45 AM
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Les
Posts 4243
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Re: the wedding fruitcake cake thing - this is what the traditions were when I got married in 1982.
Usually, there is fruitcake that has been precut and wrapped up in a paper doily and saran and maybe a ribbon, which is given to each guest to take home. You`re to sleep with it under your pillow to dream of whom you are to marry (if you`re single ha ha) Then one or two layers of the cake at the reception is real and covered in a layer of almond paste and then the hard, Royal Frosting decorating it. The rest of the layers are styro and iced with the Royal Frosting. Tradition has it that you keep the top layer to save for your first anniversary. The fruitcake isn`t really for dessert at the reception - there is usually something else. Haven`t been to a wedding in a long time so I don`t know what happens these days!
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