The holiday season is fast approaching, and baking is on my mind. This year, I will avoid a December baking crisis and follow my mother-in-law’s practice of spreading holiday baking over two months, baking those items that can be preserved or frozen before Thanksgiving and baking more delicate cookies and tarts in December. I am a fruitcake aficionado, and my choice this year is this delectable Light Brandied Fruitcake, filled with premium dried fruits – apricots, tart cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, lemon, and orange peel, ginger, and almonds and soaked in brandy, without neon green and red waxy cherries.
Fruit components
This recipe is my recreation of fruitcakes I enjoyed during my European winter travels. American pastry chef Anna Olson’s YouTube class on Classic Fruitcake* provides the basic recipe I adapted to European taste by changing the fruit combination and altering flavorings. This Light Brandied Fruitcake does not contain dark spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, molasses, dark brown sugar, and cloves characteristic of commercially prepared fruitcakes. Instead, over two pounds of luscious, brandied fruit, slivered almonds. citrus zests, grated ginger and orange juice produce a fragrant, celebratory pastry.
This Light Brandied Fruitcake is simple to prepare up to eight weeks before the holidays. It requires a limited time commitment spread over two days. One hour is needed to cut and soak the fruit overnight. The batter, assembly, and baking can be done in several hours the next day.
Suggestions on how to make a great fruitcake:
Dried fruit is often sticky. The best method is to use oiled scissors to cut large fruit into smaller, random pieces. Uniform fruit sizes are not necessary; random sizes are best and will create an attractive mosaic when the cake is sliced.
The variety of fruit can be altered, but the total amount by weight should remain the same as in the recipe.
All ingredients should be at room temperature.
Light metal pans, rather than black or glass pans, are preferred to prevent excessive browning of cake and fruit pieces. Pans should be greased and lined with parchment paper with sufficient overhang to remove heavy cakes from pans. Dark pans can be used but must be lined with double parchment paper.
Various pan sizes may be used, but cooking time must be shortened if a smaller pan is used. Anna Olson’s recipe suggests using two 9-inch round pans. I used two 8.5 x 4.5 x 4.4-inch pans and one 7.4 x 3.7 x 3.2-inch pan.
Fruitcakes should be baked slowly at 300ºF (150ºC).
Hot fruitcakes are heavy and fragile. Brush them with brandy several times as they cool completely in the pans. Then, lift the cakes by the overhanging parchment to a wire rack and remove the paper.
Fruitcakes should be wrapped in cheesecloth soaked in brandy, then tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a Ziplock or vacuum-sealed bag in a cool place or frozen. Aluminum foil should not be used directly on fruitcakes as it will dissolve from the alcohol-fruit combination, but it can be used to overwrap cakes wrapped in plastic.
This Light Brandied Fruitcake is festive and flavorful. A myriad of colorful fruit morsels suspended in a golden batter produce a moist, mildly boozy fruitcake that is perfectly balanced in flavor but not overly sweet.
This Light Brandied Fruitcake can serve multiple duties during the holidays. A loaf or two is good to have on hand when unexpected guests stop by. A thin slice can be served with brandy sauce and whipped cream or a plain slice with a flute of champagne for dessert. It can be encased in a sheet of marzipan as in an English Christmas Cake. It can be toasted to caramelize the edges and fruit and served with butter for breakfast with tea or coffee or as a midday pick-me-up. A chunk of fruitcake is a perfect energy bar on a skiing or skating outing. It also can be added to a cheese board and enjoyed with a slice of sharp cheddar and a glass of wine by a cozy fire, which I enjoy most.
I encourage you to bake this Light Brandied Fruitcake this season. It is in a class by itself, a baking triumph, a worthy addition to the holiday table.
Light Brandied Fruitcake, adapted from Anna Olson, Classic Traditional Fruitcake*,
Needed fruit:
2 cups (150 g) diced candied orange peel
¾ cup (150 g) golden raisins
1 cup (120 g) dried cranberries
1¼ cups (250 g) chopped apricots
⅔ cup (125 g) chopped candied pineapple
½ cup (64 g) dried currants
½ cup (60 g) dried cherries
¼ cup (55 g) finely chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup (250 ml) brandy
½ cup (125 ml) orange juice
2 tablespoons Cointreau
1 tablespoons (6 g) finely grated orange zest
1 tablespoons (6 g) finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoons (6 g) finely grated fresh ginger
For batter:
1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
¾ (75 g) cup ground almonds or almond flour
2 cups (300 g) all-purpose flour
1½ (5 g) teaspoons baking powder
¼ (2 g ) teaspoon salt ¼ cup
¼ cup (60 ml) + ½ cup (125 ml) brandy
1 cup (125 g) slivered almonds
For garnish:
1½ cups of whole almonds, peeled or unpeeled, for garnish (optional)
Macerating fruit: In a large bowl, toss the dried and candied fruits together with brandy, orange juice, orange zest, lemon zest and grated ginger. Cover and chill this mixture at least overnight, up to 3 days, stirring occasionally.
Macerating fruit in brandy and orange juice
Preparing batter: When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 300ºF (150ºC), grease chosen pans, and line with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl sides and bottom periodically with a rubber spatula to ensure the ingredients are combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the ground almonds.
In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir this mixture into the batter with a wooden spoon. (The batter will thicken with each addition of flour. Stirring will be difficult, but continue until no flour is visible.) Stir in ¼ cup of brandy. Fold slivered almonds into the batter, then add soaked fruits, stirring well to coat the fruit. Spoon this mixture into the prepared pans (3 cups into each 8.5 x 4.5 pan; 2 cups into the 7.4 x 3.7 pan) and spread to level. If you wish, decoratively arrange whole almonds on top of the cakes.
Ready to bake
Place cake pans on a sheet tray and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Check until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or the internal temperature is between 205-209ºF (96-98ºC). If the temperature is not reached, rotate the pans and continue baking, covering the top of the fruitcake loosely with foil to prevent over-browning. Remove the pans from the oven, placing them on a rack when the temperature is reached.
While still hot from the oven, brush the tops of the fruitcakes with some of the remaining ½ cup of brandy.
Baked fruitcakes
Brush again one or two more times as the cakes cool. Then, remove the cakes from their pans and wrap them well in brandy-soaked cheesecloth and plastic film. Store them in Ziplock bags or a tightly lidded container.
Fruitcakes- wrapped in brandy-soaked cheesecloth and plastic film
The fruitcakes can be kept in a cool place for up to 8 weeks or frozen for up to 6 months.
Makes: Two 2.2-pound loaves, each yielding 14 servings, and one 1.2-pound loaf, yielding 7 servings.
*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpbpVXf5PXY
Photo credits: All photos by Slava Johnson
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