Christmas Keeping Cake Fruitcake Like Less Fruit 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.

CHRISTMAS KEEPING CAKE (FRUITCAKE-LIKE, LESS FRUIT)

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks until fluffy.
• Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk; beat it into eggs.
• Combine 2 1/2 cups flour with spices. Add to egg mixture, alternately with jam.
• Beat egg whites until almost stiff and fold into batter.
• Combine remaining flour with pecans, raisins and dates; fold into batter.
• Pour into well-greased and floured 10" tube pan. (I used bundt pan.). Bake at 300 F 3 to 3 1/3 hours (depends on oven). (NOTE: I believe it took mine no more than 2 hours to bake.) Place on wire rack until completely cool.
• Soak cheesecloth in liquor and wrap cake. Wrap with foil. Brush with more liquor every week, closing tight with foil. Let age 4-6 weeks in cool place.

MINI FRUITCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat over to 350°. In a small saucepan, heat sherry, sugar and margarine until sugar is dissolved. Cool. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat egg and vanilla; stir into cooled sherry mixture until thoroughly combined. Add sherry mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened., In a large bowl, toss fruits and nuts to combine. Stir in batter. Fill 30 greased mini muffin cups with 1 tablespoon of mixture. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 15-20 minutes. Cool in pan 3-4 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

NO-CANDIED-FRUIT FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Add pecans, cherries, pineapple and dates; toss to coat. Beat eggs and orange juice; add to fruit mixture and mix well. Line two 9x5-in. loaf pans with foil and grease the foil. Pour fruit mixture into pans and press down. Bake at 300° for 1-3/4 to 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans. Remove foil. Brush with corn syrup; cool completely.

EASY CAKELESS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
• Grease two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans and line with greased wax paper. Press the mixture firmly into the pans. Cover with buttered wax paper.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 and bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer. Cool the cakes on wire racks. Loosen around the sides with a spatula and invert on wire rack. While they are still warm, remove the wax paper carefully. Cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate.
• To serve, slice thickly with a very sharp knife. Cut slices into smaller pieces.