who all has started making their Christmas fruitcakes?

[piperdbh]

I made one yesterday. Who else has made theirs?

[Meggers]

idk....Im weird about funky chunkies in soft food. That means no fruit chunks in my yogurt, no nuts in my brownies, no fruit in my cake, etc.

BUT this xmas I do really want to make a yule cake I made one a few years ago and it was gorgeous.

[pugcasso]

idk....Im weird about funky chunkies in soft food. That means no fruit chunks in my yogurt, no nuts in my brownies, no fruit in my cake, etc.

BUT this xmas I do really want to make a yule cake I made one a few years ago and it was gorgeous.

You could make a fruit cake with all banana chunks in it

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I've never made a fruit cake but made some nice vegan carrot cakes some years

[Meggers]

You could make a fruit cake with all banana chunks in it

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I've never made a fruit cake but made some nice vegan carrot cakes some years

I do! It's called banana bread

[Paul Henry]

I made three of mine back in August, it gives them plenty of time to mature, two are for gifts.This year I made all my own candied peel to make them extra special

[Meggers]

Ive never had fruitcake in my life...why are they being made so early?

[piperdbh]

Meghan, you really do need to get out more.

Fruitcakes are made well in advance of the date you want to eat so the flavors have a chance to mix and mingle. "Ripen" is the word bakers use for it. Some fruitcakes, like mine and I would imagine paulhenry's, are "fed" with a few tablespoons of brandy, rum, Amaretto, or some other spirit, every few days or weeks while ripening. The alcohol, which evaporates off (eventually) preserves the cake and helps carry the flavors around within the cake.
Fruitcake should be exempt from your "fruit not mixing with non-sweet stuff" rule , and it can be made without the alcohol.

[Meggers]

Meghan, you really do need to get out more.

Fruitcakes are made well in advance of the date you want to eat so the flavors have a chance to mix and mingle. "Ripen" is the word bakers use for it. Some fruitcakes, like mine and I would imagine paulhenry's, are "fed" with a few tablespoons of brandy, rum, Amaretto, or some other spirit, every few days or weeks while ripening. The alcohol, which evaporates off (eventually) preserves the cake and helps carry the flavors around within the cake.
Fruitcake should be exempt from your "fruit not mixing with non-sweet stuff" rule , and it can be made without the alcohol.

hmmm.....I dont know...When I bite into something soft and then have a random thing to chew, it tends to freak me out.

maybe someday I will have one.

<sigh> What would I want with another fruitcake when I'm already surrounded by 'em?

LOL!

[Meggers]

speaking of fruitcake....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o-u4IwXkbE

[Paul Henry]

Fruit cakes, the sort for celebrations, are usuallly made at least a few months in advance, it helps the cake to mature and the flavours all become richer and moister. My mother used to make wedding cakes as a additional income, and it was not unusual to have the cake baked at least 6 months in advance, but only marizpaned and iced shortly before the wedding itself. there was also the tradition of keeping the small top tier for the christening cake of the first child, I can can remember big wall cupboards from my childhood with lots of diffferent fruit cakes in all sorts of sizes with labels for many diffferent families.