The countdown begins. All is quiet in this house now,but how different this scene will be when the clock reaches zero.
We took a shopping trip the weekend before Thanksgiving to pick up specialty and bulk food items for our annual Holiday Open House at the Dutch Market in Tipton, MO. I love that place!
Kevin requested a fruit cake this year. I think there are two camps: “I love fruitcake” and “I hate fruitcake”. I belong to the latter group. It is possible that I’ve just never had good fruitcake, so I agreed to give it a try. I do not like the gummy sweet candied fruit bits, so Kevin found Alton Brown’s recipe for Free Range Fruit Cake.
Alton Brown’s Free Range Fruitcake
The process began two weeks ago when I soaked the dried fruits that take the place of the usual candied variety. Alton said to put the cake in a 9-inch loaf pan, but I didn’t think that amount of batter would fit. I opted instead for a ring pan. I used a spray bottle to spritz the cake every other day, but you know, I lost track. It may be a little oversaturated, or is there such a condition with fruitcake? We had a good bottle of St. Julian A & G Cherry Brandy Reserve and it seemed to be exactly what this cake needed. Just don’t light a match around it. I did try a sliver – I don’t serve anything without first tasting it. I must admit it is good. I expected an in-your-face Brandy assault, but the flavor is pretty mellow.
As the clock is ticking down I am going to start working on my checklist. I’ll try to post updates today as I go since I did not blog during the week while I was running this cooking and baking marathon. Reinforcements are arriving in one hour so that may free me up to do some posting.
Some Enchanted Eating 