Free Range Fruitcake
Filed under
Desserts
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown. Makes 10 slices. The flavor improves considerably over two weeks. If you give it as a gift, mention the alcohol.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Golden raisins
- 1 cup Currants
- 1/2 cup Dried cranberries, sun dried
- 1/2 cup Blueberry, sun dried
- 1/2 cup Cherry, sun dried
- 1/2 cup Dried apricots, chopped
- 1 Lemon zest, of 1 lemon, coarsely chopped
- 1 Orange zest, of 1 orange, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup Candied ginger, chopped
- 1 cup Rum, gold
- 1 cup Sugar
- 5 oz Butter, unsalted, 1 1/4 sticks
- 1 cup Apple juice, unfiltered
- 4 Clove, whole, ground
- 6 Allspice, whole berries, ground
- 1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
- 1 tsp Ground ginger
- 1 3/4 cup Flour, all-purpose
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 Egg
- 1/2 cup Pecans, 1/4 to 1/2 cup, toasted, broken
- Brandy, for basting and/or spritzing
Directions
- Combine the dried fruits, candied ginger and both zests. Add the rum and macerate overnight, or microwave 5 minutes to rehydrate.
- Put the fruit and liquid in a non-reactive pot with the sugar, butter, apple juice and spices. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Cool at least 15 minutes. (It can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days at this point; bring to room temperature before continuing.)
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients into the fruit mixture and quickly bring together with a wooden spoon. Stir in the eggs one at a time, then fold in the nuts.
- Spoon into a 10-inch nonstick loaf pan and bake 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean; if not, bake 10 minutes more and check again.
- Baste or spritz the top with brandy and cool completely before turning out.
- Store sealed in a tight food-safe container. Every 2 to 3 days, feel the cake and spritz with brandy if dry.