With a few days left until Christmas, I am focusing on holiday baking. I am late this year and probably should not do much, but it’s a habit hard to break even though we eat fewer sweets each year. Nonetheless, an unexpected, spectacular dessert ending to a holiday meal is a special treat. Of course, I won’t cast aside years of family tradition and still bake a selection of Norwegian cookies and perhaps a chocolate steamed pudding beloved by my husband. But for the special dessert this year I have experimented and settled on this Orange Christmas Cake with White Chocolate Frosting, my spin on European holiday fruitcakes.
I know the word “fruitcake” sends shutters through many who remember receiving those inedible canned fruitcake gifts that were rock hard, muddled brown in color, smelled of cheap booze with neon red and green cherries decorating the top. These “gifts” were rarely eaten, often regifted, which prompted Johnny Carson, the late-night talk show host, to joke that there was only one fruitcake that was passed around the country! And if not regifted, then ignominiously pitched in one of many fruitcake tossing contests organized around the US. But it wasn’t always so.
The idea for this Orange Christmas Cake with White Chocolate Frosting developed after years of tasting European Christmas fruitcakes and fruited breads which vary from country to country and even between regions of a country. Each is a special delicacy. German stolen, Italian panettone, French gâteau des rois, English plum pudding, Scottish Dundee cake, Italian panforte, Norwegian julekake, Spanish roscón de reyes, Austrian Bischofsbrot and infinite varieties of the English Christmas Cake all use different proportions of ingredients similar to those of the American fruitcake: candied fruit, raisins, oranges, nuts, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, sugar and butter, but with dramatically different results. For centuries in each of these countries, these fruited breads were baked only once a year –an annual treat at Christmas time because the ingredients were expensive.
Baked goods studded with fruit and nuts have a long history starting with ancient Egyptians who reportedly placed an early fruit bread on tombs of loved ones as a food offering for the afterlife. Roman soldiers were provided with satura, a barley bread filled with pine nuts, pomegranate seed, fruit preserved in honeyed wine and nuts for eating on the battlefield.
Cane sugar was discovered in 7th century India. Eventually, a concentrated sugar solution was used to make candied fruit, the result of steeping fruits—berries, plums, pears, and figs, as well as tropical oranges, lemons, citrons, and limes— which preserved their color and flavor “long after the period fixed by Nature for their duration,” wrote 18th-century French epicure Brillat-Savarin.
Legend has it that traders brought expensive preserved fruit, spices — cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg, and cane sugar from the East to European kitchens where upper-class bakers incorporated these ingredients in their special baking. During the Middle Ages, other spices and honey were added and Crusaders carried loaves of these fruited breads on their campaigns to the Holy Land. Panforte, a low chewy, dense Tuscan fruitcake made with candied lemon and orange peel, assorted nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, sugar and honey syrup, dates from 13th century Siena.
Over the next four centuries, with imperial colonies providing ever cheaper raw materials, privileged bakers added cupfuls of sugar, candied fruits and imported nuts to special occasion desserts for the aristocracy.
The English Christmas Cake evolved from plum porridge which was eaten on Christmas Eve which with later additions of dried fruit, spices and honey morphed into Christmas pudding and still later into Christmas fruitcakes. In the 16th century, addition of wheat flour, butter and eggs made these fruited-breads more cake-like. The subsequent practice of soaking fruits in alcohol – rum, scotch, bourbon, brandy or sherry – or adding alcohol directly to the highly sweetened dough preserved these breads by preventing bacterial growth and extending their edibility. Each successive century contributed yet another element to this cake until it became a weighty and decadent treat, which in the early 18th century was outlawed as “sinful” throughout Europe for almost 100 years. Queen Victoria revived the fruitcake’s popularity by making it a staple at British afternoon teatime.
Fruited breads, plum cakes and fruitcakes came to America with early English colonists and provided sustenance to soldiers during the American Revolution. First Lady Martha Washington baked fruitcakes for friends and family and so did American poetess, Emily Dickinson. By the mid-19th century, a version of the fruitcake, a robust and boozy groom’s cake, joined the wedding ritual and was given to guests at the end of the ceremony to place under their pillows to prompt dreams of the person they would marry. By the end of the 19th Century, homemade fruitcake was a thoughtful gift to bestow upon American friends.
The fruitcake holiday popularity in America led to its commercialization and ultimate decline. In 1913, large bakery mass-produced, made mail-order fruitcake became available throughout the country. Traditionally rich fruitcake flavors were diminished by lower quality inexpensive ingredients to fill out the cake. For many home bakers, the commercial fruitcake became the lazy man’s go-to gift, easier to buy than bake, and the tradition of baking homemade fruitcakes was lost. By mid-20th century, the commercially prepared brick-hard sweet, filled with garishly colored red and green cherries was maligned as inedible and the butt of regifting jokes.
The American commercial fruitcake bears no resemblance to its international counterparts. Thus, I challenged myself to redefine and create a lighter yet flavorful version by using traditional fruitcake ingredients differently.
A fruitcake is only as good as its ingredients. Top-quality candied fruit and nuts are essential. The sweet and fruity taste of fresh candied fruit becomes waxy and hard in commercial processing. Thus, instead of the multi-colored candied fruit available in grocery stores, I opted for only using best quality candied orange peel*, candied ginger* and walnuts, all finely chopped. I also lightened the use of spices to a smidgen of cinnamon but perked up the taste with orange zest, orange juice and Cointreau.
Many European bakers start baking Christmas fruitcakes in November, believing that the cakes need weeks to ripen flavor and occasional feeding of alcohol during that period to produce a moist cake. I shortened this traditional six-week process to several days. This cake takes a few hours to assemble and bake, but it needs a few days to soak up the orange juice and Cointreau mixture to reach maximum flavor and moistness. Thus, for three successive days after the cake layer is baked, I drizzled all surfaces with a mixture of sweetened orange juice and Cointreau, which resulted in moist rich flavor without being overly boozy. Even though the high density of sugar and alcohol preserve the fruitcake by limiting bacterial growth, I did not age the cake but served it within days of baking.
This Orange Christmas Cake with White Chocolate Frosting is delicious. Of course, it can be eaten without any embellishments, just with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. But I added the White Chocolate Frosting to mimic the royal icing and marzipan icing on lavishly bedecked English Christmas Cakes. I decorated this cake with candied orange slices and honeyed walnuts to highlight the cake’s ingredients and scattered silver dragees to make the cake more festive. The resulting Orange Christmas Cake with White Chocolate Frosting is a delectable, moist dessert with delicate orange flavors and cinnamon overtones but not the density nor cloying sweetness of the commercial fruitcake. It’s a hit in our family!
Orange Christmas Cake with White Chocolate Frosting
For cake:
3½ ounces (100 g) golden raisins
2 ounces (60 ml) orange liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier
Zest and juice of 1 orange
3.5 ounces (100 g) glazed orange peel*
1 ounce (30 g) crystallized ginger*
1 ounce (30 g) walnuts
Scant 2.5 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3.5 ounces (100 ml) vegetable oil
3.5 ounces (100 g) granulated sugar
6 tablespoon whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For feeding cake:
8 tablespoons orange liqueur
8 tablespoons orange juice
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
For frosting:
8.8 ounces (250 g) white chocolate bar or chips
3-4 tablespoons whipping cream
For optional cake decoration: Recipes and ingredients below for candied orange and honeyed walnut1 teaspoon silver dragees**
Preparing cake: Place raisins in non-reactive bowl, add orange liqueur, cover with plastic wrap and soak overnight until soft. Next day, drain raisins and reserve soaking liquid. Remove zest from orange and squeeze juice. Set aside for later use.
Finely chop candied fruit, candied ginger and walnuts. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F(180°C). Prepare an 8-inch (20 cm) diameter springform baking pan by buttering bottom and sides and lining with parchment paper.
With an electric mixer, beat the eggs until blended, then gradually add in sugar, beating until thick and pale yellow. In a separate bowl, whisk zest, 2 tablespoons orange juice, soaking liqueur and oil. Add to the egg mixture in thirds alternating with the flour mixture, reserving 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix in milk. Toss candied fruit and raisins with reserved flour until well-coated and stir into dough until combined and no flour is visible.
Pour dough into prepared pan and bake for one hour, covering the pan after half hour to prevent top from browning too much. Test cake layer in several places for doneness with a toothpick. Cake is done if toothpick is clean.
While cake is baking, prepare simple syrup by boiling ½ cup and ½ water until sugar dissolves.
Mix 2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 tablespoons liqueur and 1 tablespoon of simple syrup. Set aside.
Remove from cake from oven. Cool for 10 minutes. Then poke holes in the warm cake with a skewer and spoon over the liqueur-orange juice mixture over the cake until absorbed. Leave the cake to cool to room temperature completely in baking pan. Unmold, peel off parchment paper and wrap cake in plastic wrap and store overnight at room temperature.
Next day, unwrap cake. Mix another 2 tablespoons orange juice, 2 tablespoons liqueur and 1 tablespoon simple syrup, and pour slowly over all sides of the cake until absorbed. Rewrap the cake tightly in plastic film and store overnight. Repeat this process 2 more times. The cake can be served right away or stored tightly wrapped in refrigerator until ready to ice.
When ready to ice, unwrap cake and leave it at room temperature for 4-5 hours for surface to dry. Then proceed to coat the cake with frosting.
Preparing white chocolate frosting: Chop white chocolate into small shards and place in a heat-proof bowl with whipping cream. Heat bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally until chocolate liquifies to a pourable consistency. Cool melted chocolate until it reaches the consistency of pancake batter. Elevate cake layer on a kitchen rack and carefully pour chocolate on the center of the layer and around the edges until completely coated. Leave cake at room temperature until chocolate hardens. Then decorate with candied orange slices, walnuts and dragees. Serve.
Candied orange slices
1 navel orange
Large bowl of ice water
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Preparing candied orange slices: Slice orange into thin rounds not more than ⅛-inch thin with mandolin or very sharp knife. Discard seeds and end cuts.
Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil and add orange slices. Boil 1 minute then place in bowl of ice water until cooled. Drain.
In a large skillet over medium heat, bring 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water and 2 tablespoons orange juice just to a boil, and heat until sugar dissolves (stir occasionally). Turn heat to medium-low and place orange slices in the sugar-water in a single layer. Simmer (do not boil) the orange slices 45-60 minutes or until rinds are slightly translucent, turning every 15 minutes.
Place orange slices on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely (1 hour or overnight).
Use immediately or keep orange slices refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to use. Orange slices can be kept up to 1 month and used as garnish for many desserts. Reserve orange syrup in the refrigerator for feeding cake or another use.
Honey roasted walnuts
1½ cups walnut halves
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons honey
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Preparing honey-roasted walnuts: Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
In a non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in honey, cinnamon and nuts. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often until coated and toasted.
Pour nuts onto the lined baking sheet and quickly separate the nuts using two forks. Cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.
*Glazed orange peel, crystallized ginger and walnuts are available at nuts.com.
** Silver dragees are available on amazon.com.
One year ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/starlight-sugar-crisps/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/rediscovering-holiday-walnut-cookies/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/discovering-perus-foodways-part-one/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/a-chocolate-indulgence-steamed-chocolate-pudding/
Five years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/exploring-the-foodways-of-dubai-part-1/ and http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/exploring-the-foodways-of-dubai-part-2-2/