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fruit cake- grandma breur's original recipe

Recipe by
Loey Krause
Pickens, SC

This is the real deal. My grandmother, Anna Breur, was born in the late 1800's, and this is HER grandmother's recipe. I was most fortunate that she taught me the old family recipes when I was a child. The fruitcake traditionally was made shortly before Thanksgiving so it would be "ready" for Christmas. It's actually an old Dutch recipe, but they don't have that choice in the lists.

yield serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr 30 Min
cook time 4 Hr
method Bake

Ingredients For fruit cake- grandma breur's original recipe

  • 1/2 lb
    butter
  • 1/2 lb
    light brown sugar
  • 6
    egg yolks
  • 1 lb
    flour (4 cups)
  • 1 tsp
    cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp
    cloves
  • 1 tsp
    nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp
    allspice
  • 1/2 tsp
    salt
  • 1/2 c
    fruit juice (apricot for light, grape for dark)
  • 1/2 lb
    citron
  • 1/2 lb
    grapefruit peel
  • 1/4 lb
    candied pineapple
  • 1/4 lb
    candied cherries
  • 1/4 lb
    candied orange peel
  • 1/4 lb
    candied lemon peel
  • 1 lb
    currants
  • 1/2 lb
    figs
  • 1/2 lb
    dates
  • 1 lb
    seeded raisins
  • 1 lb
    seedless raisins
  • 1 lb
    nut meats (chopped fine)

How To Make fruit cake- grandma breur's original recipe

  • 1
    Cream butter and sugar.
  • 2
    Add beaten egg yolks.
  • 3
    Sift flour and spices. Add alternately with fruit juice to the creamed butter.
  • 4
    Add enough flour to fruits and raisins to cover each piece thoroughly. (This is where the kids get involved. All that fruit gets mixed in one huge bowl, pieces must be separated and coated with flour so they don't stick together.)
  • 5
    Add all fruits and nuts. Mix thoroughly.
  • 6
    Grease pans, line with two layers of waxed paper cut to fit pan and extend I inch above top of pan . Grease paper. Fill pan almost full with batter. Decorate the top of each cake with cherries and nuts (sliced almonds are pretty) before baking.
  • 7
    Cover the top of the pan and batter with several layers of waxed paper and tie down. (Tie around outsides of pans.) Alternatively, line pans with 2 layers cut to length to allow several inches above the pan. Fold over to cover and tie. Weigh each pan. Larger pans need more baking time, so remember which pans are what weight to remove them from the oven when done leaving the heavier pans to continue baking.
  • 8
    Bake in a slow oven 250 degrees according to weight. 1 pound - 2 ½ hours 2 pounds - 3 ½ hours 3 pounds - 4 hours
  • 9
    Store in a cool place and add brandy or any wine, etc. at intervals. Keep well covered. Each loaf gets untied, top of the paper opened, and brandy poured liberally over the loaf. Then the loaf is retied and closed to store. The "intervals" are about a week.

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