Carolyns Christmas Fruitcake Recipes

CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Soak cherries, mango, cranberries, currants, and citron in 1/4 cup rum for at least 24 hours. Cover tightly, and store at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Butter a 6x3-inch round pan or loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix into butter and sugar in three batches, alternating with molasses and milk. Stir in soaked fruit and chopped nuts. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons rum.
• Cut out one piece parchment paper and one piece cheesecloth, each large enough to wrap around the cake. Moisten cheesecloth with 1 tablespoon rum. Arrange cheesecloth on top of parchment paper, and unmold cake onto it. Sprinkle top and sides of cake with remaining rum. Wrap the cheesecloth closely to the surface of the cake, then wrap with paper. Place in an airtight tin, and age for at least 10 weeks. If storing longer, douse with additional rum for every 10 weeks of storage.

CAROLYN'S HOLIDAY FRUIT BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 8x4 inch loaf pan.
• Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves together in a large bowl. Stir in the oats. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Stir in the eggs until well blended. Mix in the applesauce, walnuts, and raisins. Stir in the flour mixture just until moistened. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
• Bake in preheated oven until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Take care not to overbake. Cool 5 minutes in pan before turning out on a rack to cool completely.

CAROLYN'S ICE BOX FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combined graham cracker crumbs, coconut, cherries, pecans and pineapple in large bowl.
• Mix well.
• Mix marshmallows& milk in top of a double boiler.
• Stir constantly until marshmallows are melted.
• Pour over dry mixture and stir till well blended.
• Line loaf pan with foil.
• Press fruit cake mixture into pan forming a loaf.
• Chill for at least 3-4 hours.
• Slice and enjoy.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST WHITE CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Place the orange peel, currants, raisins, cherries and chopped candied pineapple in a large bowl.
• Pour the orange juice over the fruit and let sit for 24 hours, mixing/tossing a couple times during the 24 hours period.
• Line bottom of one 9 x 5-inch AND two 3 x 8-inch loaf pans with parchment paper or two sheets of wax paper.
• Set oven to 275 degrees.
• Place a pan of cold water directly onto the bottom of your oven.
• In a large bowl cream butter with confectioners sugar until very smooth.
• Add in the egg yolks and almond or vanilla extract; beat until combined.
• Stir in the soaked fruit and the juice along with nuts.
• Using a wooden spoon stir in the flour.
• In a clean dry bowl beat the egg whites until firm peaks form; fold into the batter.
• Fill the large pan and the two smaller pans about two-thirds full.
• Bake for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until golden brown, the smaller pans will take less time to bake (or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle).
• Let cool in pans on a rack.
• Remove cakes from pan; peel of parchment.

JEWELED FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°. Line four greased and floured 5-3/4x3x2-in. loaf pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside., In a large bowl, combine dates, nuts, cherries and coconut. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir into fruit mixture until well coated., In a small bowl, beat eggs and vanilla until foamy. Fold into fruit mixture and mix well. Pour into prepared pans., Bake 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Wrap tightly and store in a cool, dry place. Cut with a serrated knife.

FRUITCAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients., Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container. (Cookies are best after a few days.)

CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combine all fruits, preserves, vanilla and liquor in a large bowl. Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place overnight.
• Add hazelnuts, coconut and pecans to the fruits, mix well and set aside. Butter and flour four loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Make batter in two batches for greater ease of working. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup of butter until it is light and fluffy. Beat in 1 cup of brown sugar, a little at a time. Beating continuously, add 6 eggs, one at a time.
• Mix flour and spices together and sift half the mixture over batter. Fold together well.
• Mix half the fruits and nuts into batter and turn into two loaf pans. For second batch, repeat the last three steps with remaining ingredients.
• Cover loaf pans with aluminum foil and place in preheated oven. Bake for 2 hours. Remove foil and bake 40 minutes longer.
• Remove cakes from oven, run a knife around edges of the pans and turn upside down on a cake rack. Leave to cool. When cakes are thoroughly cool, wrap well in cheesecloth and pour liquor on top, bottom and sides until cheesecloth is soaked. Wrap each cake in several layers of aluminum foil to protect them from the air. They are ready to eat in two to three weeks, although the longer they're kept the better they are. Open every few weeks and add more liquor if cheesecloth seems dry.