Poor fruitcake.

It gets such a bad rap for being cloyingly sweet, heavy as a doorstop, and
generally inedible. If you were gifted with just such a treat this holiday season, don't
automatically shove it to the back of the freezer. Here are a few suggestions for how you might
eat and actually enjoy that fruitcake.
Part of the problem with fruitcakes is in the name. We hear "cake" and we expect something
light and fluffy. Fruitcake is really more of a candy-like confection. It's actually meant to be as
dense and impenetrable as it is! The cake portions are more like the glue that holds the fruits and
nuts together.
Try slicing it very thinly with a serrated knife and breaking off little nibbles with your fingers.
Take a minute to notice all the flavors in each bite - the bits of dried fruit, the soft nuts, and the
boozy cake.
If the fruitcake holds together well, you can also try toasting a slice until the edges are crunchy
and the fruit gets slightly caramelized. Slathered with a bit of butter or paired with a slice of very
sharp cheddar, this makes an excellent midday treat.
Fruitcake also gets a second life crumbled over ice cream. We love the chewy bites paired with
the melting ice cream. The ice cream also helps mellow the intense flavor of the fruitcake.
After our success with re-creating Raincoast Crisp crackers, we're also wondering if we could
slice fruitcake extra-thin and bake the slices in the oven until they're completely dried out and
crisp. This would make a handy snack to stow in a backpack or purse, don't you think?
What are your favorite ways to eat fruitcake?
And PS: If that fruitcake up above looks amazing (and good enough to bake in January!) you can
get the recipe here:
Fruitcake or
Doorstop?
How Do You
Describe It?
by KIM BURDETTEon JANUARY 5, 2016

I did a brief survey on Facebook, asking my friends what their first thought was about
fruitcake. One in particular described it as a brick-like-thing, which made me laugh out
loud. So, how do you describe fruitcake? Is it a dessert or a doorstop? The response on
Facebook was almost unanimous. YUCK! But then, there were comments like:

I have a vision in my head of a person,. ..but love the food version! Lol

Years ago, before our time, fruitcakes were the only cakes containing nuts..and fruitcake
is generally disliked by many.put the two together and you get I dont particularly
care for that person-theyre as nutty as a fruitcake.

Not a fan! Never have I ever been able to swallow a bite!

If youre talking about that brick like thing we all get for Christmas, then, YUCK! But, if
youre talking about one that someone actually takes the time, and I mean days, to make
one from scratch, then they are so good. Must be all that rum that the fruit and nuts are
soaked in, then all the rum they pour over the cake itself, lol.

Yuck! But I have memories of my dad buying 2 fruit cakes that came in the can at
Christmas. He would pour a little bourbon over it to keep it moist and wrap it up tight and
place it back in the can. He would have a small slice in the evening and cherished the
fruit cake for a few months.

Just awful!
So, the holidays are over and your refrigerator is filled with leftovers. And then theres
that little loaf of dried fruit. Do you share it with your neighbors? Feed it to the dog? Or
do you prop it in front of the door so Rover can come and go as he pleases?

Another friend of mine said, with all the talk of bourbon and rum, there may be a secret
society of fruitcake lovers that the rest of us are not privy to. Im going with this theory.
Pour enough liquor on anything, and the taste is irrelevant.

But, then, theres my husbands grandmothers version that my mother-in-love sent me

This sounds delicious. My mother-in-love is another one who doesnt care for fruitcake,
except for this recipe. She and I have similar tastes in just about everything else, so Im
guessing I would like it, too. I dont think I ever tried it, because I was predisposed to the
notion that it would be YUCK!

And just like one of my Facebook friends said, it takes days to make it from scratch. As
one of our many southern traditions during the holidays, I hope that by sharing this recipe
here, I can improve our relationship with fruitcake.

Big Mothers Fruitcake

Ingredients

7 eggs

2 tsp allspice

2 tsp cinnamon

tsp salt
1 box white raisins

3 cups pecans

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 sticks margarine (melted)

1 T. vanilla flavoring

2 lb. vanilla wafers

1 bottle Mogen David wine (blackberry or grape)

Candied Fruit: (you can substitute any variety)

2 16 oz. mixed fruit

1 8 oz cherries

1- 4 oz cherries (for top decoration)

2 4 oz lemon peel

2 -4 oz orange peel

Instructions

Soak vanilla wafers in wine for several hours or overnight. Mix sugar and spices, add
well beaten eggs and add to wafer mixture. Add margarine and vanilla and mix well.

Mix fruit and nuts and sprinkle with flour. Add floured fruit and nuts to wafer mixture
and mix well.
Cook 2 hours at 250 degrees in greased and floured pans (tube and loaf). Ovens vary
so test with toothpick.

Now, if you want a really tasty fruitcake that you dont have to spend days in the kitchen
preparing, there are a group of monks that make and sell them from The Abbey of
Gethsemani. My mother-in-love read about them in the Wall Street Journal a few years
ago and has ordered one periodically since. She says it is the next best thing to her
mothers recipe.

The Abbey of Gethsemani is a community of Roman Catholic monks belonging to the

worldwide Order of Cistercians of Strict Observance commonly known as Trappist. The
community was established in 1848 in Trappist, Kentucky. Currently 48 monks live
here.

These monks began making fruitcake in 1955 and use four-year-old, 100 proof, Jim
Beam Bourbon made in Kentucky as a key ingredient. It is injected into the fruitcake
after it is baked. You can keep it for up to a year without refrigeration, and it should be
eaten at room temperature.
Due to the fact that there are 2 ounces of good bourbon in these, I strongly recommend
that you NOT feed it to Rover regardless of how you feel about fruitcake. And another
thought either a sweet grandmother or a community of southern monks have spent time
preparing these cakes, so splurge a little. Be a fruitcake. Eat a fruitcake. Prop your doors
open with a real brick that youve painted a pretty color and welcome your friends in for
slice of bourbon, I mean fruitcake. Serve it with a hot toddy and your friends just might
become homesteaders, so be careful which fruitcakes you serve it to.