Patria wrote: ↑Tue Nov 07, 2023 7:51 am
...Bkeepr, this thread calls for recipes, photos, and tips.
Here's the recipe, my Mom's original with Pam's notes to make it a little clearer. If something isn't clear enough, just holler and I'll get clarification. I'm afraid I won't post any pictures, though. After I left Facebook, I don't really have a place online to store pics. If you want, I can email some to you, Patria.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Recipe follows +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oma and Nana Aeillo’s Fruitcake Recipe (makes 2 loaves)
1 lb raisins (mix both blond and dark)
1/2 lb chopped dates
2 lb mixed dried fruit and green and red cherries
8 oz walnut pieces
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 tsp rum extract
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Mix fruit and nuts in a bowl with 1/3 cup of flour and set aside. (This flour coating helps keep the fruit and nuts from settling to the bottom of the loaves.)
Mix rum extract with orange juice. Set aside.
Cream together softened butter, white and brown sugars, and vanilla, and then add the eggs one at a time.
Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour, the spices, salt, and baking powder.
Add and blend the flour mixture and orange juice mixture alternately into the batter.
Add the fruit and nuts to the batter.
Divide batter evenly between (2) 9”x5” loaf pans, lined with parchment paper.
Bake in loaf pans at 300 degrees F for about 2 1/2 hours. Put a pan of water on the oven’s bottom rack while baking.
Remove from oven, and take them out of the pans and cool on a rack.
When completely cooled, my Mom would cure the fruitcake with Bourbon, Brandy, or other liquor this way: poke some holes in the top of the loaves with a skewer. Use a pastry brush to paint on about 1-2 oz of liquor on all sides and bottom. Wrap the loaves in wax paper for a few days, and repeat the process at least one more time. After the final “feeding,” rewrap each loaf in wax paper, and then aluminum foil. Store in either zip lock bags or large tin containers. Mom always swore the cakes needed a month or more of curing and storage in a cool location to be any good.
Recipe can be doubled for 4, or halved for 1 loaf. Oma (my Mom) used to make at least a dozen loaves every year, starting in August or September.