When someone says fruitcake, what comes to mind? The mention of fruitcake brings back all the nostalgic memories of my early childhood. My Mom would start the holiday fruitcake in the fall, usually after Hallowe’en. By the time everything was added into her large bowl, it would be chock-full of candied fruit, nuts (from our own nut trees), spices and other ingredients, such as citrus peel and booze of some kind. The most important part of this process was the traditional family stirring. Everyone in our family (from youngest to oldest) took a turn at stirring the mixture. Originally the three eldest girls of five little girls participated in this ritual – the two baby girls would join us a few years later. Mind you, our little arms were no match for this unyielding mixture, but our valiant attempts were praised and applauded by our parents. Dad even asked Mom to wake him up from his sleep (he worked the night shift), so that he could take part in our family tradition.
The reason Mom started this process so early in the season was simply that traditional fruitcakes needed time to age or mellow with the rum or other special liqueur that was included in the ingredients. A cheesecloth was soaked in the alcohol and wrapped around the fruitcake. This process was repeated a few times over the course of six or more weeks. My Dad worked for Hiram Walkers, so we usually had access to a special brandy or rum which was set aside for the fruitcake. While this recipe is not my Mom’s traditional fruitcake recipe (I will post that recipe at a future date), this Holiday Fruitcake Made Easy is a fruitcake that anyone can make with ease, without the need for a lot of muscle or strong booze or lengthy preserving time. Despite the fact that this fruitcake is not aged, it is flavourful, moist and delicious, and it can be made at the last minute in your holiday preparations. The mini cake size makes them ideal edible holiday gifts.
Unglazed, sliced
