By: Valerie
Cakes and Cupcakes, , , , , ,

Light Fruitcake Ring

Yield: one 8-cup bundt cake
Recipe: 60/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 250

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    My dad is generally not a huge fan of desserts, but one thing he adores during the holiday season is fruitcake. He always receives the store-bought fruitcakes as a gift (the ones with the red and green cherries). I thought that this year I would make him a big fruitcake that he could enjoy endlessly. I am not an avid eater of fruitcake myself, but according to him this fruitcake is delicious and very tasty. Much better than the ones sold in stores, he claims. What I further like about this recipe is that it has many small steps but in the end, it is not so complicated. The hardest part, I think, is the 5-day waiting period before tasting it! I urge you to try this recipe if you or someone you know like fruitcakes.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup pecan pieces
  • 1/2 cup chopped pitted prunes
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
  • 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
  • 1/3 cup diced Candied Citrus Peel
  • 3 oz. (85 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  • 1/3 cup amber rum (e.g. Bacardi Gold), plus extra for brushing cake
  • 2  1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 2  1/2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Stir the pecans, prunes, figs, dates, apricots, citrus peel and chocolate with the rum. Cover and let sit for one hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease an 8-cup bundt pan.
  3. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cloves and salt together. Add the fruit and rum mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, milk and egg yolks. Stir this into the fruit mixture.
  5. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the egg whites until the hold a medium peak when the beaters are lifted. Fold this into the cake batter in two additions.
  6. Spread this mixture into the prepared bundt pan and bake for about an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then turn it out to cool.
  7. While still warm, brush the surface of the cake with rum. Once completely cooled, brush the cake again with rum.
    • Note: Wrap and store the cake for 5 days before slicing.

Valerie