Cooking with Chef Jo: Making My Fruitcakes

For decades now, I always do my baking of my fruitcakes on Halloween. It takes a month and a half months worth of basting and turning weekly to have it come out moist and tasty. I use two separate basting liquids. One is alcohol free and the other is for those who enjoy the alcoholic kick. My next older sister and I are former alcoholics so we refrain. So three of these cakes get the simple syrup cakes. Notice the difference in the count? We also have a friend who receives a cake who refrains from alcohol.

Jo's Fruitcake
9 1-lb loaves or 18 mini loaf pans (I do a combination of pans)

Slice of finished fruitcake

What you'll need
1 cup dehydrated grapes, or golden raisins, chopped

1-1/2 cups shortening

2-1/4 cups sugar

8 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

                                                             1 teaspoon salt

                                                             1/2 teaspoon baking soda

                                                             1/2 cup milk, soured with 1 tsp lemon juice

                                                             2-1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

                                                             1/3 cups diced dehydrated pineapple 

                                                             1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries

                                                             1/3 cup chopped dehydrated peaches

                                                             1/3 cup chopped dehydrated figs

Simple Sugar Syrup

2 cup of water

1 cup sugar

Alcoholic Sugar Syrup

1 cup water

1/2 cup good rum like Jameson's or Bacardi

1 cup sugar

Putting it all together

• Place raisins and dehydrated fruit besides the cherries in a large bowl; cover with boiling water, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Drain well reserving the liquid, and set aside.
• In another large bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
• Mix  in 1/2 a cup of cooled reserved liquid from the fruit and soured milk together.
• Beat in vanilla. 
• Combine the flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. 
• Dust rehydrated fruits and nuts with flour.
• Fold fruit and nuts into the batter until well incorporated. 
• Spoon into nine greased 5-3/4x3x2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 300° for large loaf pans65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
• While the cakes cool, prepare the syrups.

                     The simple sugar syrup-

                     Place sugar and water into saucepan, and stir over medium heat until all sugar
                     is dissolved. Set aside.

                    For the alcohol sugar syrup-

                    Place water and sugar into a saucepan, and stir over medium heat until all
                   sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the rum. Set aside.

•  When the cakes have cooled enough the remove them from the pans, brush all sides heavily with either syrup. 
• When completely cooled, wrap each one in several layers of cheesecloth. 
• Brush the cheesecloths with remainder of the syrup. They will be sopping wet.
• Wrap each loaf in aluminum foil and place the loaves in the refrigerator. Make a note as to which has which syrup. I use my vegetable bins.

Do this weekly for the next five weeks- remove the aluminum foil, brush cheesecloth heavily with the syrups, rewrap them in foil, and place back in the refrigerator.

When gifting this fruitcake find an appropriate lined tin or box, remove the foil and cheesecloth, and gift away. When using it for your own entertaining, slice it, and serve on a festive platter. Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day!
Cockeyed Jo