Dark Delicious Fruitcake Recipes

RICH DARK FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Wash and dry the raisins and the currants. Wash, dry, pit, and chop the dates. Chop the raisins and the citrus peel. Slice the cherries. Blanch the almonds, and slice them lengthwise. Combine fruits and nuts in large bowl.
• Grease and line 3 standard Christmas cake pans (these round pans are at least 3 inches deep and come in a set of three sizes- 5, 7, and 9 inch across) with 4 layers of heavy waxed paper, or 3 layers of brown paper. Grease again. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices onto a piece of waxed paper. Remove 1 cup of this flour mixture, and combine with fruit and nuts. Mix until fruit is well coated.
• Cream the butter until fluffy. Add extracts. Gradually add sugar, mixing until creamy. Beat egg yolks until light and lemon-colored, and beat into the butter mixture. Stir in the molasses, and beat together well. Add half of the remaining flour mixture, and blend thoroughly.
• Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry; fold into batter. Stir in lightly the remaining flour mixture alternately with grape juice and coffee. Add floured fruit and nuts, blending in until fruit is well distributed.
• Turn batter into prepared cake tins, filling each about 2/3 full and spreading batter evenly. Bake in center of oven. Bake small cake 2 1/2 hours, medium cake 3 1/2 hours, and large cake 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and allow to stand 5 minutes, then turn out on wire rack to cool.

DARK FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place candied fruit, ginger, raisins, currants, cherries, walnuts or lemon rind, orange marmalade, lemon juice, brandy or orange juice, and vanilla and almond extracts in a large bowl; toss well, cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.
• Grease, then line the bottom of a 10-inch tube pan with wax paper. Preheat oven to 250 F.
• Sift together twice the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, allspice, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
• Cream butter until light, add sugar gradually, and continue creaming until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Add to dry ingredients, about 1 cup at a time, beating just to blend. (Note: Unless you have an extra-large mixing bowl, you will have to transfer batter to a large kettle at this point.) Mix in the fruit mixture.
• Spoon batter into the pan and, if you wish, decorate the top with halved candied cherries and walnuts. Place on center oven rack; half fill a roasting pan with water and place on the rack below. Bake uncovered, 4 1/4 hours until cake shrinks slightly from sides of the pan and a metal skewer inserted midway between the edge and the central tube comes out clean.
• Cool cake upright in pan on a wire rack for one hour. Carefully turn out, peel off the wax paper, turn right-side up and cool thoroughly.
• Wrap in brandy or rum soaked cheesecloth then in foil, and store in an airtight container about three weeks to ripen. If you wish to store it longer, sprinkle cheesecloth wrapping with 2 to 3 tablespoons brandy or rum at 3-week intervals.
• Enjoy. Recipe Source: by Jean Anderson, Elaine Hanna (Doubleday). Reprinted with permission.

THE FANNY FARMER DARK FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Set oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.
• Line the pans with foil, then butter the foil.
• Cream the butter or shortening.
• Add in brown sugar; beat until light.
• Add in lemon extract and eggs and beat well.
• Stir in molasses and blend to combine.
• In a small bowl combine the flour with baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, mace, cloves and salt; beat into the creamed mixture until combined.
• Add in milk; beat until combined.
• Stir in the candied fruit, candied cherries, candied citron, dates or raisins and nuts; mix well.
• Transfer/divide the batter between the two pans.
• Bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until the loaves test done.
• Turn out onto racks to cool.
• When completely cooled wrap well and store in an airtight container.
• BRANDIED FRUIT CAKE OPTION; soak two large pieces of cheesecloth in brandy.
• Wrap each fruit cake in the cheesecloth covering all sides, then wrap well in foil.
• Moisten the cheesecloth with additional brandy every few days for about a week.

DARK & DELICIOUS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• The night before (8-24 hrs): Chop large dried fruit to about raisin or cranberry size or your preference, chop citrus peels very fine, and mix & marinate all fruits in 1 c dark rum or cognac. Preheat oven to 275 F. Butter loaf pans, line with wax paper, butter again. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add applesauce & vanilla. Mix in eggs two at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix 1 c flour with the fruit mixture. Sift the remaining 3 c flour with other dry ingredients, add to wet ingredients. Mix batter and nuts into fruits- you will notice that the batter is just barely enough to hold the fruits and nuts together. Fill pans nearly to the top, pressing batter down to remove any air spaces. Bake standard loaf pans about 3 hrs, mini loafs about 2 hrs, until top feels done. Let stand 1/2 hr on racks, then remove from pans and peel off paper. When completely cool, wrap each in cheesecloth soaked in rum. Put in tin or wrap tightly in foil. Age 2-4 weeks, checking weekly and re-rumming the cheesecloth if needed. Enjoy!!