The Making of the Fruitcake

So, the fruitcake…

Recall, if you will, that this bowl of festivity soaked up its Amaretto goodness in my refrigerator for about two days prior to The Making of the Fruitcake.

The actual Making of the Fruitcake went well. I searched for quite some time until I found the recipe that I thought sounded most like what my Mom fondly remembered her Italian aunts making.

I used Christmas Fruit Cake from a blog called Closet Cooking. Pretty sure I discovered it when searching for my fruitcake recipe. It’s a very cool blog with terrific recipes – not only the fruitcake. Check out the site as well as Kevin’s Pinterest boards. Yum!

Anyway, the fruitcake recipe…it was perfect. Believe it or not, I followed it pretty much to the letter other than using Amaretto instead of brandy. Considering this was my inaugural fruitcake and I wanted it to taste just like Mom remembered it, I didn’t want to mess around. The recipe was easy to follow and worked just the way it promised.

The results? See for yourself…

What’s the white fuzzy thing in the photo, you ask? That is a little Yeti. The Fab Hub let him wander into the shot. Guess he wanted a closer look.

Why a Yeti? Well, that’s one of those odd little stories… Fab Hub and I have always enjoyed playing board games together. One of our favorites is good old Scrabble. For as far back as we can remember one of us usually manages to get the word Yeti on the board. Over the years it’s just become one of those things we do. It’s like a strange way to say “I love you.” So when I found this silly little Yeti at the checkout while finishing my Christmas shopping, I could not resist bringing him home for the Fab Hub.

Here’s that closer look the Yeti was hoping for…

Now that we have a good glimpse at the fruitcake, here’s the verdict: this is GOOD STUFF!  I didn’t leave it in the refrigerator for as long as the month recommended in the Closet Cooking recipe, but it turned out just fine! It was sweet and fruity and nutty and boozy…Mom declared it just right. Success!

Reviews from others were varied. Kidzilla did not enjoy it one bit – her only comment was “YUCK!” And just for the record, NO I did NOT give her the booze-soaked version; she had a mini-sized Zilla-friendly version made just for her. The Fab Hub declared it “odd.” That’s better than “yuck,” I suppose. I believe this was his first-ever sampling of Christmas fruitcake, so I’ll take it as something of a compliment. I offered some to friends and family at a holiday gathering and those who were fruitcake lovers were quite pleased; those who were haters remain haters. There is no middle ground with fruitcake, it seems.

My Sister was not a fan, but thought that she would like it just fine without the Technicolor candied cherries. I have a second recipe saved somewhere that does not actually include the cherries, but rather uses only dried fruits such as currants, cranberries, blueberries and nuts. Perhaps next year we’ll try one of that variety just to see what it’s like.

Overall, the experience of making it was successful and fun. It felt like a very holiday-ish thing to do. It got Kidzilla and me into the kitchen together once again. The results were terrific as far as I’m concerned. I really don’t think one can judge a successful fruitcake on the semi-negative comments of a few consumers. It is fruitcake, after all…the most hated holiday dessert in the universe. Mom and I thought it was grand. And I just may do it again next year – minus the Yeti. Or not.