mama's christmas fruitcake - dee dee's
This has to be the very best fruitcake ever!! This recipe was passed down to my mother from her mother. I can remember mama making 2 to 4 of these cakes at a time for Christmas. Everything mama put into her fruit cakes was very fresh. She would crack a fresh coconut and grate it. The pecans she put in this cake were not store bought. Mama hand cracked, picked and chopped her pecans. She would use scissors to cut the raisins. She spent many hours just preparing the ingredients for these wonderful cakes. On a funny note, my dad always shopped for the liquor that was used for the fruitcakes but one year for whatever the reason, mama went to the liquor store to make the liquor purchase. She picked up the liquor and really wasn’t sure that it was the right liquor, so when she checked out she asked the clerk: “Is this what they use for fruitcakes?” to which the clerk replied: “Well, that’s what they say that they’re using it for.” Needless to say, Mama never visited another liquor store. I can remember Mama working all day and staying up all night baking. I know a whole lot of love went into baking these wonderful fruitcakes for our family. The photo is borrowed to give you an idea of what this fruit cake looks like.
Ingredients
- 5 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 cup butter or margarine
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 - eggs
- 3/4 cup whiskey, or mogan david concord american red wine(add'l liquor is needed for soaking cheese cloth)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pound candied cherries, red and green, chopped coarsely
- 1 pound candied pineapple, chopped coarsely
- 3 cups california golden raisins, cut up
- 4 cups pecans, chopped coarsely
- 1 - fresh coconut, grated
How To Make mama's christmas fruitcake - dee dee's
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Step 1Sift all dry ingredients together. Coat fruit and nuts with just enough of flour mixture (about 1 cup) to ensure that the fruit does not stick together; set aside.
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Step 2Cream butter and sugar; add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition.
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Step 3Add remaining dry mixture to egg, sugar and butter mixture; add liquor and vanilla; mix well.
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Step 4Pour the creamed mixture over the fruit and nuts. Hand stir until mixed well.
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Step 5Pour into 2 10-inch waxed paper lined tube pans, garnish top of cake with cherries, pineapple slices and pecan halves; place in cold oven, set oven at 275 degrees; bake 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours or until a long skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. MY MOHTERS RECIPE STATES BAKE IN SLOW OVEN FOR ABOUT 2 1/2 HOURS. IT TOOK MUCH LONGER IN MY OVEN.
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Step 6Once cakes are done, cool and wrap in wine soaked cheesecloth, then in Reynolds Wrap and then wrap in towels.
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Step 7NOTE: The secret to these wonderful cakes is in the aging process. Mama would age her cakes from 2 to 3 weeks. Once a week she would un-wrap the cakes and pour enough liquor over the cakes to keep them moist until Christmas.
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