I am making fruitcake today, for the first time in my life, after much initial preparation. I made my own candied lemon and orange rind, I searched out organic figs, and begged a real nutmeg from my neighbor. I even found a bottle of Lyle's Golden Syrup at my village store. Yesterday I bought fresh Vermont butter, eggs, and flour, and today is D-Day.
The candied fruit peel, lemon, citron (direct from California, made by laurelnotlauren, whose recipe this is) and orange.
Unfortunately, I think I need a bigger boat.
My grandmother's giant bread bowl filled with figs, dates, almonds, pecans, and pineapple.
Those are in my mother's biggest bread bowl.
The question now is how do I take all this stuff and mix it with two cups of butter, four cups of flour, a cup of golden syrup, twelve eggs, and two cups of of brown sugar? Also a jar of apricot jam and half a cup of brandy. I refuse to use the bathtub.
I probably should have cut the recipe in half, but I thought with the Apocalypse coming up next December, it might be my last chance. If I can figure out how to mix all this stuff together, I will have fruitcake to last well into the zombie global winter end of days.
Meanwhile, I have a problem.
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just phyllis for now
Margaret Feike
Galen Gregory
John A Bayerl
James M. Emmerling
Lunchlady 2
Salon.com
Comments
Other than that your local Walmart sells large plastic storage bins with tight fitting lids and of all sizes..........
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One slice of cake any you're definitely having a merry xmas - two and she takes away your car keys. (That shine is damn nearly 200 proof)
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Sky - I'll bet she makes her fruitcake way early to get it to that proof. I delayed, so I only have a few weeks to "age" the cakes. So is Tignish brandy potato whiskey, I wonder? They used to make that in Vermont.
Leepin' Larry - you must be a member of the inscrutable (and widespread!) anti-fruitcake brigade. I don't mind. More for the fruitcake defense league.
greenheron - finding Lyle's Golden Syrup in my village grocery was a total shock. The recipe calls for light molasses, which I remember being available in my childhood, but which I haven't seen in years. Golden Syrup is British, and a very light version of treacle, so you get the flavor of unrefined sugar without the overwhelming flavor of molasses. I'm sure you can buy it on-line if you live out in the sticks, but I'll bet places like Whole Foods carry it. I have no idea what it was doing in my village store, unless the fruitcake fairy put it there for me to find.