We do Love Fruitcake

Yes, it's true. Despite its bad reputation, we love fruitcake. Especially Costco's. However, we haven't found it for a few years and just don't have time to find the answer to this mystery of where Costco's fruitcake went. Note: This recipe has no candied cherries or candied pineapple or citron.  Just dried figs, dates, plums, lemon peel, apricots, dried cherries, golden and dark raisins, candied ginger,  dried cranberries, diced almonds, walnuts, pistachios, macadamia and pecans

November 30, 2023 Update:

It's baking day! The second batch is in the oven and the first batch is cooling. I accidentally preheated to 350 degrees F and the first batch was done a bit too soon and may be a bit overdone. 45 minutes for the smaller; 55 for the larger. I'm watching the next batches carefully. 

10 days of fruit marinating - I added another 3/4 cup of Goslings. Gerry has the sherry and Triple Sec ready and I've opened my package of cheesecloth (a finer grade this year with 10 pieces with hemmed edges.) I guess this is it.

I've got everything measured in separate containers so it makes it easy. I zested and juiced the lemons and oranges yesterday. All I have to prepare is the the grated apple for each batch. The ovens are preheated and I'm making five batches of 1 large bread pan and 4 small pans.

Next year, I'll use dark brown sugar. I mixed it up last year with some dark and some light. The dark is a richer taste and look to the cakes.

November 21, 2023 Update:

I found a small loaf in the freezer last month and Gerry and I enjoyed every one of the few bites. The dried fruit has been marinating in the rum for several days now.  I'm waiting on a delivery of the dried ginger today to add to it. I'll put the bowl with six pounds of fruit in the refrigerator to marinade until we arrive home from Thanksgiving in Maine. I've already chopped the combination of nuts (added Macadamia to the walnuts, almonds, pecans and pistachios this year) and put them aside to add into the five batches I will make this year. I added 2-1/2 cups of Goslings to the fruit this year, turning it over often to let the fruit soak it all in.

2022 Fruitcakes

So, I decided to make my own fruitcake inn 2022 and tweak it to taste like Costco. So, come along for the baking ride.

Ingredients for one batch:

3/4 c. packed brown sugar (use dark or light for lighter batches)

1/4 lb. unsalted butter, softened

5 eggs, whisked together

4 T. fresh orange juice

1 T. each fresh orange rind and fresh lemon rind

1-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

Chopped dried fruit of all kinds to equal about 1-1/4 pounds per batch and several cups of assorted chopped nuts. See below.

Instructions:

Today, I cut up much of the dried fruit I had in my pantry - figs, dates, plums, lemon peel, and apricots. Then I added in dried cherries, golden and dark raisins, candied ginger,, dried blueberries and dried cranberries. In total, I had 2600 grams of dried fruit or 5.75 pounds. I poured about 2 cups of Gosling's dark rum over this in a large, covered glass bowl. I am turning the fruit over every hour and then will leave it a day or so. Note: the dried fruit I assembled today is for three - four  batches.

Today I also assembled 300 grams of diced almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans and mix up the dry ingredients for three - four cakes. I'll dip about a cup of these into the batter for each batch.

The day I had the most time, I mixed 1-1/2 c. flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp salt. I set aside four mixtures of these in containers so that when I have time to bake (in segments because I am working as interim library director this month.) I also measured the brown sugar into 3/4 cup - 1 cup containers (you might like it a bit sweeter) and made sure to take out 1 pound of butter and eggs in advance.

Each time you bake you will need to zest and squeeze and grate the fresh fruit.

Batter:

Cream 1/4 lb. softened butter and 3/4 -1 c. light brown sugar for 3 minutes. Reduce speed to add 5 eggs, one at a time until the eggs are incorporated. They may be a bit coarse-looking - don't worry to incorporate them totally. Lower the speed and add the dry ingredients. Add in 1 T. freshly zested lemon and 1 T. freshly zested orange and fresh orange juice from 1/2 orange. Add one grated peeled Granny Smith apple and 3/4 - 1 cup of the nuts. Separate the marinated fruit into equal portions for as many batches that you are making. Note that you need 5-1/2 pounds for 4 batches; 6-3/4 for 5 cakes. It's about 4 cups per bread. The more the better. You want a rich-with-fruit cake. Stir all well with a spatula and spoon into prepared pans. I lined bread pans with a rectangle of parchment and lightly greased. I am planning on making several sizes, including deep quiche pans lined with a round of parchment.

Bake at 300 degrees, rotating the pans halfway for 75 or 90 minutes. Batter should be set, golden brown and the edges of the cake should have pulled slightly from the edges. Remove

from oven, place on rack and cool.

  This slice was from a 3x6 mini pan. 

Eat slices with butter, whipped cream, cream cheese or ice cream. If you want a traditional fruitcake, soak cheesecloth in sherry or triple sec and wrap the fruitcakes for one week in the refrigerator.

See this recipe for the some inspiration. I don't know where I came up with mine! Most recipes call for candied pineapple and candied cherries and I don't use them. 

Swedish Meatball Sauce (for IKEA's Swedish Meatballs)

I don't shop at IKEA often, but we occasionally pop in for candles or kitchenware or their Swedish meatballs. Since 2021, I haven't found the sauce for the meatballs. You can purchase the frozen meatballs (and now plant-based ones), but IKEA staff tells me that the sauce is out and won't be in for a few months - and the few months explanation has been given to me several times since the COVID pandemic. 

So I searched the internet (I haven't located the Fannie Farmer cookbook that was my Mom's and am hoping I didn't get rid of it one day in the 1980s after she died.) We had Swedish meatballs regularly and I loved them. Fannie's recipe (that I found in thevoluptuoustable.blogspot.com).  apparently needed only broth and cream in the simmer stage. The spice was in the meatball, which is probably true of the IKEA meatballs. However, what's in their sauce? The Real IKEA Swedish Meatballs recipe from AFamilyFeast.com has worked for us with an adjustment or two. I make a half recipe for the two of us with half a bag of IKEA meatballs - with leftovers. 

• 1 c beef broth (or 1 T of Better Than Bouillon or an envelope of concentrate equal to 1 cup broth, adding hot water)
• 1 c vegetable broth (or 1 T of Better Than Bouillon or an envelope of concentrate equal to 1 cup broth, adding hot water)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp soy sauce or Aminos
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 T. butter
• 4 T. Wondra or regular flour

Whisk together the broths, cream, soy sauce and mustard. Add pepper, but make sure you whisk immediately before adding to the roux.

Melt the butter in olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add in the broth mixture and cook until thickened. Cover defrosted meatballs with sauce and heat. Alternatively, bake the defrosted meatballs for 10 minutes in a hot oven to crisp.

Marinated Roasted Golden Beets

These are wonderful in salads of all kinds. 

Clean and peel beets and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

Combine with  3 T of Peach Balsamic, 1 T Honey-Ginger Balsamic and 2 T Butter Olive Oil. Add some salt, pepper and onion powder and sprinkle with sage leaves.

Marinate for a few hours or overnight. Place the beets in a single layer, and liquid, on parchment on a baking sheet or in a similar baking pan and roast in a preheated (400 degrees) oven until soft but not mushy. 20-30 minutes. Stir midway through the roasting process.
 

Orecchiette and White Beans with Brussels Sprouts and Spicy Mustard Bread Crumbs

Gerry found this recipe in Cook's Illustrated Nov/Dec 2023.  He scours the magazines online through the Florida libraries. There are so many great resources that are free to us with our library cards there.

We love Brussels sprouts and cannellini beans so it was a perfect combination for us. We made a special trip to our favorite Italian market for imported orecchiette, or little ears.

*Remember to reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid before you drain the cooked pasta.

The recipe calls for using the liquid from the canned beans, but we drained and rinsed them. It called for navy beans, but we love cannellini beans, so used them. We also used grainy Dijon. 

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 c Panko bread crumbs
• 2 tsps Dijon mustard
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp salt pls 1/2 tsp salt (not including the salt in the pasta water)
• 8 oz orecchiette pasts
• 2 slices of bacon or more, chopped fine 
• 10 oz (at least) of Brussels sprouts (trimmed, halved, and sliced thin)
• 1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 T cider vinegar (you could use a flavored or infused white balsamic)
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/3 c sour cream

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil with some salt. While waiting for the water to boil, combine the oil, Panko, mustard, 1/8 tsp salt and cayenne pepper in a skillet large enough for the finished recipe.

Cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until Panko is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.

Cook pasta according to directions, or it fresh cook until a bit more than al dente.

At the same time cook the bacon in the skillet used above until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Crumble. Leave the fat in the skillet. Add Brussels sprouts and 1 T of pasta water and 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir, cover and cook about 4 minutes until sprouts are bright green. Stir in the beans, 1/4 cup of the pasta liquid and the vinegar and pepper. 

Add the pasta to the sprouts mixture and the sour cream in the skillet. Stir and add more of the pasta water as you need. Season to taste. Divide among 4 bowls and sprinkle with the bread crumbs and bacon.

Drain pasta, reserving liquid.* 

Apple Sugar Plum Pie

While I was visiting our local Florida neighborhood library, I took out Me, Myself and Pie by Sherry Gore. This recipe looked like a good take on apple pie with a twist and I've adapted it to my liking. 

The farmers markets here in Florida are wonderful all year long, and believe it or not, there are lots of varieties in apples. I think I used Honey Crisps for this pie. I also got about 8 sweet and juicy red-purple plums.

I decided to make two smaller pies in my fluted ceramic pie plates. These are 5.5 inch ceramic pie dishes with nice fluted edges that are easy to work with. I also used some leaf mold that have a push handle to emboss the pastry dough. I use a pastry brush and light cream on the underside of the leaves and place them on the crust. Then I dab brushes of the cream (lightly) on the entire crust and leaves. I've found that preheating the oven to 425 and then turning it down to 375 works for me. I test the apples for doneness and remove the pies from the oven when they are golden.

About six large crisp apples, cored, peeled and cut into chunks.  About 8 nice plums cut into chunks after removing the seed.

4 T of sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon or apple pie seasoning. Use more of each to your liking. Place all in a plastic bag or dish and mix well.  Add 1 T. Wondra flour and some orange peel. If you are preparing the fruit before you are getting ready to bake, sprinkle them with lemon or orange juice. Use more sugar if you want a really sweet pie to counteract the  juice. 

Prepare your crusts and make the pastry larger than you will use for the pie plate. Roll them thin but not so that they will break. Spoon the fruit into the pie nice and high. Cut chunks of butter and place them between chunks. About1/2 T for each plate.

Cover the pie with the crust and press down on the fluted edges. If you prefer lattice, you will see the beautiful color of the plums. Slice four to five 1/2 inch openings in the top crust.  Bake until apples are not too crisp but the crust is nice and golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.