This is a variation on a variation of a traditional recipe I found in the Washington Post many years ago. Over time, we seem to have worked out a system for getting the fruitcake made without becoming violent: one person does ingredient prep and washing up (we have to re-use mixing bowls and utensils and they must be cleaned during the cooking process) and the other combines the ingredients. Because of the volume of batter, it helps to have the larger, stronger person doing the stirring and batter wrangling. It also helps for at least one member of the team to have the patience of a saint.
Kentucky Bourbon Fruitcake
For the cake:
1 3/4 cups bourbon whiskey (we use Wild Turkey because good whiskey = good fruitcake)
1 pound dried cranberries (we use Craisins, the original recipe calls for candied cherries)
1 1/4 cups golden raisins
4 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3/4 pound softened unsalted butter (3 sticks) plus additional for the pans
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar (we use dark brown sugar)
6 large eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups (about one pound) pecan halves
For the syrup (double the syrup if you're making mini-loaves):
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
Other supplies:
Lots of bowls
Egg separator
Measuring cups and measuring spoons
More bowls
Sifter
Spatulas and big spoons
Electric mixer
Baking parchment or wax paper
Cheesecloth (you'll need a whole 2.5 yard package for 8 mini-loaves)
Cling wrap and aluminum foil
At least one day before making the cake: Pour the bourbon over the cranberries and raisins in a medium bowl. Stir the mixture occasionally. Be sure to enjoy the aroma: inhale! Cover and let sit overnight. We actually let it sit a couple days this time around and all the whiskey was absorbed.
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 250 °F. The fruitcake bakes a long time at a low temperature. Start this process early in the day. It takes a while to combine all the ingredients, then it bakes for three hours (90 minutes for mini-loaves), then cools for three hours, then you have to wrap up the fruitcake in syrup-soaked cheesecloth.
Butter the bottoms and sides of two loaf pans. Line the bottoms with parchment or wax paper if you want. We use standard loaf pans: 9.25 by 5.25 by 2.75 inches. This recipe completely fills these pans. If you want to use a different kind of pan or combination of pans, be aware that you will need to accommodate a volume of 267 cubic inches of batter! Do your math in advance.
For mini-loaves: We have mini-loaf pans with which four mini-loaves equal one full-sized loaf. This recipe makes eight mini-loaves. Prepare the mini-loaf pans as you would the full-sized pans.
Sift the flour, baking powder and nutmeg together into a large bowl. Set aside.
Beat the butter and both sugars in the large bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and the bourbon-fruit mixture, including any liquid remaining in the bowl. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Set aside. We find that the mixer gets overloaded (and we have a big mixer with a big motor) once we start adding flour, so we recommend transferring the fruit/butter/sugar mixture to a REALLY big mixing bowl and stirring in the flour by hand.
We found that once the flour is stirred in, the batter may be too stiff to—well—stir. If that happens, add a little extra bourbon to the batter to loosen it up.
So. While large person with upper body strength is stirring in the flour, the other person washes out the mixer bowl and starts beating egg whites. Beat the egg whites with clean beaters in the clean large bowl of the mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Stir in the pecans.
Transfer the batter into the prepared pans. Don't be alarmed if the batter completely fills the pans. The batter doesn't rise enough to overflow during baking. Be alarmed if the batter overflows your pans. You'll have to find more pans or cupcake pans or something. Or eat the raw batter with all that bourbon in it. It's up to you.
Bake the fruitcakes for three hours (90 minutes for mini-loaves), until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This may take even longer than three hours. I think we baked them about three hours and fifteen or twenty minutes this time.
Cool the fruitcakes in the pans. This takes another three hours or so. Remove the fruitcakes from the pans and discard the paper (if any) used to line the pans. I recommend using paper, it does simplify removal. Our mini-loaf pans have a fancy shape which couldn't be lined with paper and the fruitcakes did cling to the bottoms.
Now it's time for the syrup!
Heat the water and sugar in a small saucepan to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the bourbon. Let the mixture cool a little. Cut the cheesecloth into pieces (one piece for wrapping each fruitcake object you have made). Put all the pieces of cheesecloth into the syrup and squeeze them around to ensure that each piece has absorbed approximately the same amount of syrup.
Spread a piece of cling wrap, large enough to wrap a fruitcake object, on the counter. Spread a piece of syrup-soaked cheesecloth onto the cling wrap, place a fruitcake on the cheesecloth, wrap the cheesecloth around the fruitcake so it is completely covered. Then wrap the cling wrap around that and then wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil. Repeat for each fruitcake.
Store the fruitcakes in the refrigerator. Let them "cure" for at least one week before you start eating them. Cut your fruitcake into thin slices while it's cold and serve the slices at room temperature, or eat them cold if you can't wait. Heck, you've already waited two weeks. Haven't you? Well? You didn't just dig in and start scarfing down fruitcake, right?
1040 words | December 14, 2004 08:11 PM | Kitchen