Fruitcake is a holiday baked good that's either revered, reviled or regifted for someone else. Is there any dessert that gets less respect?
You don't hear "nuttier than a pecan pie." Nobody talks about using a cheesecake or even a poundcake as a doorstop.
Ada Dewey of Ogden, 92, made Christmas fruitcake for at least 70 years. "But I stopped making it two or three years ago, because my family doesn't like it. The recipe makes two or three loaves, and I would just end up having to eat it all myself."
What is it about fruitcake that appeals so much to Dewey? The fruit, of course.
"I use cherries and citrus fruits and dates and nuts. I get a package that's called Festive Holiday Fruitcake Mix, where all the fruits are cut up for you, but I add extra cherries," she said. "I used to make my mother's recipe with boiled raisins, but then I began doing one that uses applesauce, and I like that one better. It just makes the best cake."
But she's learned not to try to share it. When Dewey brought a loaf of pumpkin bread to her daughter's home, she was told, "If that's a fruitcake, don't bring it in."
Fruitcake actually has a long and rich culinary history.
It's a descendant of "marchpane," a large cake at feasts in medieval times. The marchpane was crowded with candied fruit and nuts, and its base was a paste of almond and sugar, much like today's marzipan. Today, many British fruitcakes are decorated with a sheet of marzipan and frosted with hard white icing, a possible nod to the ancient marchpane.
Just about all the European countries have some form of a sweet cake or bread studded with dried fruit and/or nuts. For instance, 12th-night cake in England, Dundee cake or "black bun" in Scotland, Italian panettone, stollen in Germany and Scandinavian raisin bread.
Making a fruitcake in the 18th century was a major undertaking, according to the "Oxford Companion to Food," by Alan Davidson.
"The ingredients had to be carefully prepared. Fruit was washed, dried, and stoned (taking the pits out), if necessary; sugar, cut from loaves, had to be pounded and sieved; butter washed in water and rinsed in rosewater. Eggs were beaten for a long time, half an hour being commonly directed. Yeast, or barm from fermenting beer, had to be coaxed to life. Finally, the cook had to cope with the temperamental wood-fired baking ovens of that time. No wonder these cakes acquired such mystique."
Fruitcake was very popular during the Victorian era (1837-1901). When Queen Victoria once received a fruitcake for her birthday, as legend has it, she set it aside and didn't eat it for a whole year, as a sign of restraint and good taste.
In his book "The Dessert Bible," Christopher Kimball notes that "Fruitcakes are primarily about storage … When made with liquor-soaked fruit and wrapped in cheesecloth soaked in more booze, fruitcakes can be stored in a cool place for years. This is not a comforting thought for a modern cook but would clearly appeal to folks who lived before the advent of refrigeration."
"Joy of Cooking," by Irma S. Rombauer & Marion Rombauer Becker, states that when saturated with liquors to keep down mold, fruitcakes "have been enjoyed as long as 25 years after baking." "Enjoy" may be a relative term here.
But fruitcakes aren't always soaked in alcohol or aged. Some are basically pound cakes with fruit added. In the 1917 edition of "A New Book of Cookery," Fannie Merritt Farmer's recipe uses no butter or eggs but calls for raisins, whole wheat flour, white flour, sugar, molasses, baking powder and spices.
Some possible off-putting fruitcake factors:
The gummy texture of the cake and the candied fruits. In his cookbook "Christmas 101," author Rick Rodgers said people would like fruitcake more if they tried one that was more like his Aunt Gisela's, which contains "real dried fruit instead of the weird colored cherries and artifical booze flavor of commercial brands."
Fruit and nuts are fairly expensive; home cooks may not feel the results justify the costs.
In an era where freshness is key, the idea of a cake left to age for weeks, or possibly regifted through several recipients, has little appeal. In that case, it pays to know your gift-giver. If this is a homemade cake and you know your friend hasn't been near a kitchen in years, beware.
PayPal started a "Regift the Fruitcake" fundraiser on www.regiftthefruitcake.com. You can go online and create virtual fruitcake, then pass it on to friends and family in the name of charity. No calories required.
But there are still plenty of fruitcake fans out there. The Tampa Tribune has run Mrs. Harvey's White Fruitcake recipe every year for more than 50 years, and the paper often gets requests for the recipe as early as July.
Instead of tossing or regifting that fruitcake, why not recycle fruitcake into a different dish?
The December 2009 issue of Food Network magazine has three ideas to unleash your fruitcake creativity, such as using it as a stuffing for pork tenderloins or making it into granola to top a fruit-and-yogurt parfait.
In the Deseret News test kitchens, we tried it in another typical British holiday dessert: trifle.
e-mail: vphillips@desnews.com
FRUITCAKE TRIFLE
This makes a very rich dessert.
3 1-pound golden fruitcakes (such as Hickory Farms)
1 16-ounce tub whipped topping, or 2 pints whipping cream, whipped
1 24.3-ounce tub ready-to-eat refrigerated cheesecake filling (such as Kraft's Philadelphia brand)
Maraschino cherries, if desired
Dice fruitcake into 2-inch pieces. Reserve about 2 cups of the whipped cream. Gently fold remaining whipped cream into cheesecake filling. Place a layer of the fruitcake pieces on the bottom of a large glass trifle bowl. Top with half of the cheesecake/cream mixture. Repeat fruitcake and cheesecake layers. Top with another layer of fruitcake. Garnish with whipped cream and maraschino cherries, if desired. Serves 15-20.
Option 1: Make individual trifles in parfait glasses.
Option 2: Use 2 packages vanilla or cheesecake-flavored instant pudding, mixed according to package directions, instead of the cheesecake filling.
— Valerie Phillips
GOLDEN RAISIN FRUITCAKE
1 package yellow cake mix
1 8-ounce container sour cream
3 eggs
21/2 cups California raisins
1 10-ounce jar red maraschino cherries, drained
1 6-ounce jar green maraschino cherries, drained
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup broken walnuts
Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan or two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans. Combine cake mix, sour cream and eggs in large bowl. Mix at low speed until well combined. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into greased and floured pan.
Bake at 350°F for 55 to 60 minutes for Bundt cake, or for 50 to 55 minutes for loaf cakes; or until top is deep golden brown. Do not underbake. Cool slightly in pan. Remove from pan onto cooling rack. Cool completely. Brush top of cake with light corn syrup, if desired. Wrap tightly in foil. Store in refrigerator.
Yield: 1 Bundt cake or two loaf cakes.
— California Raisin Board
FRUITCAKE-STUFFED PORK MEDALLIONS
2 1-pound pork tenderloins, sliced into 2-to-3-inch medallions
1 cup crumbled fruitcake
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup dry sherry (option: use chicken broth; or 6 tablespoons apple juice plus 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Dissolve ¼ cup salt in 1 cup cold water in a medium bowl. Add the pork medallions, cover and refrigerate 1-4 hours.
Meanwhile, spread the fruitcake on a plate and microwave until slightly dry, 1-2 minutes. Chop any large pieces of fruit or nuts, then let cool.
Mix the butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste in medium bowl. Mix in the fruitcake and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Drain the pork and pat dry. Insert a paring knife into the curved side of each medallion to create a small pocket in the middle. Open the pocket with the knife or your fingertip and tuck spoonfuls of the fruitcake stuffing inside. Secure each opening with a toothpick.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the pork with pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat; add pork and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish and bake until cooked through, about 12 minutes.
Wipe out the skillet. Add sherry or broth; return to medium heat. Bring to a boil and reduce by about half. Add cream and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove toothpicks and slice the pork medallions in half crosswise. Drizzle with cream sauce. Serves 4.
— Katherine Alford, Food Network Magazine
MRS. HARVEY'S WHITE FRUITCAKE
4 cups shelled pecans
1 pound candied cherries
1 pound candied pineapple
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 pound butter
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1-2 ounces vanilla extract
1-2 ounces lemon extract
Chop nuts and fruits into medium-sized pieces; dredge with 1/4 cup of flour. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add well-beaten eggs and blend well. Sift remaining flour and baking powder together; fold into egg and butter mixture. Add vanilla and lemon extracts; mix well. Add fruits and nuts, blending well.
Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Line with foil, parchment, or waxed paper. Grease again. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place in cold oven; turn on heat to 250 degrees and bake 3 hours.
Or bake in 2 well-greased, lined 9-by-5-by-3 inch loaf pans. Place in cold oven and bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Cool in pan on cake rack. Makes 5 pounds of fruitcake.
— Tampa Tribune