I want to try my hand at baking for the holidays and would like to try to bake some gifts.?!
Answers: Would love to make some fruit cakes, but none that taste like those yucky ones you buy in the stores. Can anyone out there help me out with a recipe for a very good FRUIT CAKE RECIPE that makes several cakes at one time?
THE BEST EVER FRUIT CAKE
Now let me tell you something about this fruit cake. I never liked fruit cake as a kid and figured that I would never lay hands on one, until my sister-in-law asked me to try a piece. This fruit cake is not at all like those you get in the store, it is moist and delicious and it is something you should try.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
3 package of 11 ounce each of pitted dates out in small pieces
3 or 4 - 10 oz jars of marschino cherries cut in half and drained
2 jars green cherries, drained
4 slices candied pineapple, colored and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 pounds shelled english walnuts
1 pound or more brazil nuts (shelled)
1 1/2 pounds shelled pecans
Shift dry ingredients together, except sugar. Beat eggs well and add sugar. Beat well again. Then add nuts and fruit, little at a time. Add all you can of the fruit and nuts just so each piece is covered with the dough mixture, it may take more nuts and fruit than is listed, depends on how much you want in it. Bake the bread in a bread loaf pan that is greased and coated with flour as the cake will stick. Put pans in a cookie sheet with little water in the cake so it won't get dry. Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours then turn over to 300 for halfan hour for cake to turn brown. This recipe makes four fruit cakes.
nfd?
Fruit Cake
INGREDIENTS
* 2 cups packed brown sugar
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tablespoon baking soda
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons ground cloves
* 2 tablespoons ground allspice
* 2 tablespoons ground nutmeg
* 4 eggs
* 2 tablespoons lemon zest
* 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup brandy
* 1 1/2 cups raisins
* 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts
* 1 1/2 cups dried mixed fruit
* 1 1/2 cups butter, melted
* 1 3/4 cups brandy
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Grease and flour a tube pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, soda, spices, eggs, lemon rind, vanilla, 1/2 cup brandy, fruit, nuts, and melted butter or margarine. Mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
4. Wrap cooled cake in foil. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons brandy over the cake everyday for 2 weeks.
If fruit cakes are a little scary, this zucchini bread is requested by my peers at work.
Dean’s Zucchini Bread
3 cups flour
2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 ? cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 ? tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon oil
? tsp baking powder
1 - 8 ounce can crushed pineapple
? tsp baking soda
In large bowl mix all but the eggs & oil. In small bowl mix eggs and oil, pour over mixture and mix really well. Turn/scrape into a sprayed full size loaf pan, bake @ 350 for 45 minutes. Check for done with toothpick, bake up to 15 minutes more until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan at least 10 minutes, turn out of pan to rack to cool completely.
(this recipe doubled makes 5 mini loaves)
For me I foud out that making my own helped me out..I start witha box of cake mix and add the fruits that I like but I have to cover them in flour before adding them to the mix...now I make about 20 different one but the best is a hawaii fruit cake. uummmmmm
Ok. I am not a fruitcake fan, but I did try making it last year. I made a "white fruitcake" and the recipe sounded great, but it turned out gross.
I make biscotti for gifts and get rave reviews. Here's the recipe(s) in case you want to take a stab at it!
Sour Cherry-Pecan Biscotti
(makes approximately 6 dozen)
2 cups dried tart cherries (or regular dried cherries. I couldn't find "tart" specifically, so I used the regular ones)
1/4 cup orange juice
Hot Water
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
Confectioner's sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (if you have 2 ovens do one at 350 and one at 300)
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Mix cherries with OJ and just enough hot water to cover. Set aside for 15 minutes.
4. Sift flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
5. Whisk the eggs together. Add them to the flour mix and stir to combine (partially).
6. Drain cherries and discard liquid.
7. Add cherries and pecans to flour/egg mix. Stir to form a stiff dough (probably easy to do with a mixer. I had to do it by hand and I ended up just using my hands - it was easier).
8. Scrape dough onto a board coated with XXX sugar. Divide into 4 pieces.
9. Roll each piece into a log slightly shorter than the cookie sheet (unless you are using HUGE cookie sheets). 2 logs per sheet.
10. Bake 15 minutes or until each log is set/firm to touch. (I didn't time them. I just kept touching mine until they felt set).
11. Cool ON the cookie sheets.
12. When cool to touch, cut the logs with a serrated knife into 1/2" thick long cookies (on diagonal).
13. Bake again for 10-15 minutes until dry and lightly toasted at 300 degrees. Cool.
Alternate Flavors:
Cranberry-Walnut
Substitute cranberries for cherries and mix with cranberry juice and hot water instead of OJ. Use chopped walnuts instead of pecans. Add 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper to dry ingredients.
Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip
Use 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of berries and 1/2 -2/3 cup oatmeal instead of nuts (I considered throwing the oatmeal in the food processor to break it down a bit). Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla to eggs.
Double Chocolate Chip
Slightly altered dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup cocoa
Use 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 3/4 cup white chocolate chips instead of nuts and berries.