This fruitcake recipe is for you to experiment with. Stick with the proportions but vary the ingredients within reason. Use your favorite dried fruits, nuts, spices, and liquor. Make it gloriously festive and yours! This recipe yields about 8 mini, 3 medium, or 2 large cakes.
Ingredients
About 7 ½ cups dried fruit and candied sweetmeats, such as:
2cupschopped candied citrus peel(I mixed orange and lemon)
1 ½cupunsweetened dried shredded coconut
1 ½cupsdried sweetened cranberries
1 ½cupsraisins
1cuproughly chopped candied ginger
Seasonings
1 to 1 ½tablespoongrated, peeled fresh ginger
1tablespoongrated orange ,lemon, or lime zest (optional)
6tender kaffir/makrut or regular lime leaves, minced (optional)
½cupfreshly squeezed tangerine or orange juice
1 ⅓cupsbrandy, rum, cognac, or Chinese sorghum and rose petal liquor (mei kwei lu chiu), divided
1 to 1 ¼teaspoonsChinese five-spice powder or pumpkin spice blend
¼ to ½teaspoonground nutmeg or mace
¼ to ½teaspoonground allspice or clove
¼ to ½teaspoonground ginger or black pepper
2teaspoonsvanilla or almond extract
5 cups raw or roasted nuts and seeds, such as:
2cupswalnuts
1cuppecans
1cupsunsalted sunflower seeds
1cupslivered almonds
Batter:
2cups(10 oz) all-purpose flour, bleached, unbleached, or a 1:1 gluten-free blend (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF Baking Flour )
2teaspoonsbaking powder
Generous ¾ teaspoon salt
½cup(4 oz) virgin or refined coconut oil, vegan butter sticks, or unsalted butter, melted
¾ to 1cup(5.25 to 7 oz) light or dark brown sugar (use lesser amount if the fruit mixture is sweet enough for you)
6large egg, at room temperature
Instructions
Put all the dried fruit and sweetmeats in a large bowl. Add the grated ginger, zest, lime leaf, juice, and ⅔ cup of the liquor. Season with the Chinese five-spice, mace, allspice, and pepper -- starting with the smaller quantities. Stir to combine well. Taste and smell, adding more five-spice (sweet warmth), mace (sweet pungency), allspice (savory warmth), or pepper (invigorating heat). When you’re happy, add the vanilla. Cover and let things marinate for at least 3 hours or overnight; stir a couple times, if possible.
Meanwhile, ready your pans. There will be about 12 cups total so look for pans that can hold 16 cups total (8 baby loaf pans, 3 medium pans or 2 tube pans, for example). If needed, grease the pans then line their bottoms with parchment (the paper pans I used did not require lining or greasing). Set aside.
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300F.
Add all the nuts to the bowl of dried fruit and sweetmeats. Stir to combine well.
In a bowl, whisk to gether the oil, sugar and eggs. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine into a batter then pour into the fruit and nut bowl. Use your hands or a big spoon to stir, combine and coat. Make sure nothing is clumped together.
Divide the batter among the pans. Gently bang the pans against your work surface to settle the mixture, then level the tops. Decorate the top with a few nuts, if you like.
Bake for 1 hour to 1 ¾ hours, depending on the size of the pan, switching directions mid-way for even baking. Gluten-free flour tends to take longer so be patient. The fruitcake is done when a skewer insert comes out clean with a bit of moisture.
Cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then unmold, setting them right side up. before unmolding. Use a skewer to poke holes all over the cakes. Then pour on the remaining ⅔ cup liquor (I use a small measuring up). Set aside to cool completely. Put in an airtight container and let age for at least 48 hours (some say a week!) before eating. Refrigerate and return to room temperature before serving. To freeze for up to a year, encase the cake in cheesecloth, sprinkle with some liquor and wrap in foil.
Notes
Formulate your own Chinese five-spice powder with this recipe.To make your own candied citrus peel, peel 2 or 3 navel oranges (or 4 or 5 Meyer lemons) then chop the peel into pieces about the size of your pinkie finger nail. You need 1 cup. Put the peel in a shallow small saucepan (1 to 2 quarts), then add water to just cover.Bring to a strong simmer over high heat, then immediately drain. Shake to expel excess moisture. Replace the saucepan on the stove then add ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup water. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat, stirring, and when the sugar has dissolved, add the peel. Lower the heat to simmer, stirring frequently and lowering the heat more when things get too vigorous. The peel is candied when it looks glazed and most of the sugar syrup has been absorbed. You can cook the peel until all the liquid is gone and the peel is coated opaque white by sugar. Dump onto a plate and spread out to cool. Store in an airtight container for weeks. Use a bigger (wider) pot when doubling the batch.Miss nothing. SUBSCRIBE to my recipes, posts + newsletter!