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I make two types of fruitcakes -- one is dark, with those candied fruits you hate. That one is for my dad and other closet-fruitcake lovers. Everyone else eats my light (in color, not weight) fruitcake made with chopped dried fruits and nuts. The batters are essentially the same, but the dark one uses a couple of spoonfuls of cocoa powder. After I bake them, they get soaked in rum (or Irish whiskey for my dad's batch) and left to sit and "ripen."

JEP - If you'd like the recipe for the light fruitcake, I'll post it to my blog. But you better get started soon if you want to give them as gifts for Christmas -- they need a good month to reach full fruitcake splendor :-)

Dominic
the zen kitchen

Sri Lankans make the best fruitcake! The secret is using semolina rather than all-purpose flour. It makes a moist, rich, dark fruitcake heady with the brandy sprinkled on at regular intervals as a preservative.

My mom made it with store bought candied fruit when I was a child, but now that I'm all grown up, I've toyed with the idea of making the candied fruit myself. Candied orange peels are easy to make, if tedious, and nothing like those florescent bits of wax and chemicals you buy at the store.

I honestly can't say I've ever eaten fruitcake...

absolutely. steingarten has a great recipe in "man who ate everything" - a light fruitcake that is wonderful, moist, full of yummy fruit. needless to say, the accompanying story behind the fruitcake is delightful, too.

((Closet door bursts open))

I love fruitcake.

I think I'm going to check out Dominic's link.

Have any of you ever had the chocolate fruit cake from American Spoon Foods? It changed my mind about fruitcake! The dried fruits are macerated in Grand Marnier. The cake is dense, chocolatey, not too sweet. A very thin slice washed down with a glass of good bourbon is the perfect end to a busy holiday.

I've never attempted making fruitcake but it sounds intriguing. I think the only kind I've eaten comes from the local bakery I've gone to since I was old enough to know what a donut is. It is very heavy on the dried fruits and nuts but I don't think there is any alcohol in it, which is the reason I'd like to make it *wink wink*.
I am leery about pre-packaged, made in a big-ass factory fruitcakes and I have no idea why. I guess I have to wonder how long they sat in the warehouse before hitting the shelf. Are they last year's rejects that didn't sell? I don't want to know....

I wasn't aware that fruitcake could be taken internally. I thought it was more of a building material than a food product.

My mom makes fruit cake cookies for christmas that I absolutely love.

Mr Meatloaf's (Jewish) family love traditional fruitcake. Both my light and dark fruitcakes have dried fruit, not candied in them, except a little orange peel, and I'm not switching.

But has anyone made the black cake like the one that Laurie Colwin wrote about in one of the HOME COOKING books? It comes from the Caribbean.

Hi Littlebluesiren.

I made Alton Brown's fruit cake one year. my family looked at me like i had lost my mind when i showed up on christmas eve fruit cake in hand. it went over like a lead baloon. lesson learned. we are clearly christmas cookie people.

AuntJone your wise to be weary of the big store fruit cakes. I know for a fact the 'bakery' (use that term losely) department in my old grocery store did in fact keep their unsold fruit cakes to stock the shelves the next year. In fact we weren't required to put an expiry date on them at all....highly disturbing considering most things were given a 3-5 day shelf life, the frozen cake even got a maximum of a month. But not the eternal fruit cake....

Oh and I love fruitcake.

Ideally, consistency would be nice. I have, however, run out of one and used the other instead with no ill effects :-)

With all of the spices and fruits in there, the liquor that soaks with the fruit really doesn't add a whole lot in terms of flavor. The one that you use to brush on is certainly more perceptible. After about a month, though, the "heat" of the alcohol dissipates and you're left with just the essence of the liquor you chose.

I even have heard of people brushing some ruby port on their dark fruitcakes...maybe next year :-)

Dominic
the zen kitchen

Fruitcake is all about eating around the nasty candied/dried fruits, and that's just not worth it. So no.

But I will eat florentines!

My mom and I make a batch of fruitcakes every year which we hand out to friends. Even the people who "hate fruitcake" devour ours! There is no candied fruits, only natural dried fruits, nuts, and a glass of whiskey. When we make it, it requires mixing it in a wash basin and a very strong spoon. It makes about 20 1lb loaves. After they are baked they a wrapped in cheesecloth and receive a healthy dose of sweet sherry over a weeks time. Can't give out the recipe though, family secret!