Question about fruitcake fruit

[Little Bit]

I'm preparing to make one of Laurie Colwin's "Black Cakes," but I can't find the book ("Home Cooking") anywhere.

The recipe calls for you to grind up a bunch of fruit and then let it soak in a mixture of Kosher wine and rum for quite a while. (From two weeks to six months)

Has anyone ever done this sort of thing before?

I'm wondering if I need to refrigerate it or just keep it cool? I've got it in a plastic box with a lid that'll fit nicely in my fridge, but I'm wondering if refrigeration is necessary given the amount of alcohol in the stuff.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :):):)

[Deanna]

all I can say is "Do you REALLY like that stuff?" Fruitcake has been the butt of so many jokes; in some families they pass the same fruitcake back and forth as a gift for years on end. This would call for a poll, I suppose. Fruitcake or No Fruitcake?

I vote NO!

(Now...maybe your version is better than that 25-pound block of stale fruit I keep getting back every other year...)


Please don't take this post personally...it's all meant in good humor!

Deanna

[RobinC]

I love my mom's fruitcake. I kinda hate to call it fruitcake because of all the jokes and horror stories about fruitcake (I must say that a lot of them are justified - there is a lot of bad fruitcake out there.)

My mom's family recipe uses marachino cherries and some candied orange peel. That's it for the fruit. None of that awful candied stuff that sits in the stores from Halloween until the January clearance sales (then back into the storeroom to keep for the following year. Her fruitcake is also FULL of nuts. I kinda like to call is a nut cake, just so it doesn't get instantly compared to the nasty stuff.

I am kinda thinking that with the amount of alcohol, you wouldn't necessarily need to refrigerate your soaking fruit. I think you would be able to keep it in a dark cool place. What kind of fruit do you use?

[Deanna]

combined with the YELLOW chunks...the RED ones are okay!

But those GREEN ones....yuck!

[jphilg]

I secretly like fruitcake, grocerystore chunks and all. I prefer a fruitcake made with real dried fruits...but nevertheless, I really dig the stuff.

I also like black jelly beans and the purple pickles that some middle eastern restaurants garnish the hummus with. So I guess I am weird.

Jen

[lorilei]

Originally posted by jphilg
I secretly like fruitcake, grocerystore chunks and all. I prefer a fruitcake made with real dried fruits...but nevertheless, I really dig the stuff.

I also like black jelly beans and the purple pickles that some middle eastern restaurants garnish the hummus with. So I guess I am weird.

Jen

psst... Jen.... you have a friend. I too am a lover of purple pickles (which I think are beets or turnips), black jelly beans, and yummy soaked-in-rum dark fruitcakes.

(I won't tell if you won't...)

[JHolcomb]

Robin-
You wouldn't happen to have your mom's recipe for that fruitcake would you? It sounds good, and my dad loves fruitcake, even the grocery store kind, so I'd love to make him one this year. I hate the green chunks, too, by the way, which is why this one kinda appeals to me. Oh, and I don't think it needs to be refrigerated, but I'm betting money that the Martha Stewart website could tell you for sure.

Jen

[Little Bit]

I hear you on the "Fruitcake Jokes" issue, and as funny as it might seem, I'm not a fruitcake fan. :o :o
However I've got several friends who adore fruitcake, so I make a point to make it for them at the holidays. Pleasing them with fruitcake is pretty much a given. This might be an easy out as presents go, but at least they are happy, happy, happy, and all the spices make my house smell divine!

I keep trying new recipes, and haven't yet run across one that they disliked, or one they demanded to have again and again. Last year I waited longer to make my fruitcakes than I should have, so they didn't get to age very much. Noone really complained about the rum ;) :o , but the cakes would have tasted better with a bit more age behind them. I might be over doing it a bit this year, but this does sound like an interesting cake.

Jen, Thanks very much for the Martha suggestion. That's a very good idea!

[Deanna]

If AGE is a desirable quality in a fruitcake...send me your ADDRESS!!!

(just kidding)

P.S. I think Yahoo has a Chat Room for Fruitcake Lovers...