Okay, so I decided to tackle a “fancy fruit cake” today. I’ve always seen those gorgeous cakes packed with colorful dried fruits and nuts, and I figured, “How hard could it be?” (Spoiler alert: it’s a bit harder than it looks, but totally doable!).
Getting Started
First, I gathered all my ingredients. This was an adventure in itself! I hit up a couple of different stores to find everything I needed. Here’s the basic rundown of what I grabbed:
- Dried fruits: I went with a mix of cranberries, raisins, apricots, and cherries. I also threw in some candied ginger because, why not?
- Nuts: I picked up some pecans and walnuts. I like the way they taste, I already had almonds at home.
- Flour, sugar, butter, eggs – the usual suspects for a cake.
- Spices: I used cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of cloves. Gotta have that warm, cozy flavor!
- Brandy: This is the “fancy” part, I guess. I opted for a decent-quality one, but nothing too crazy expensive.
The Soaking Process
So, the first major step was soaking the fruit. I chopped up the larger fruits (like the apricots) and dumped everything into a big bowl. Then, I poured in a generous amount of brandy – enough to cover the fruit. I stirred it all up, covered the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit on the counter overnight. This is supposed to plump up the fruit and infuse it with flavor.
Mixing and Baking
The next day, I got down to the actual cake-making. I creamed together the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, I whisked together the flour and spices. Then, I gradually added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. I lightly chopped nuts and add them into the mixed ingredients.
Now for the fun part: I drained the soaked fruit (reserving the extra brandy, of course!) and folded it into the batter. The batter was super thick and packed with fruit – it looked amazing!
I poured the batter into a greased and floured cake pan and popped it into the oven. I baked it at a low temperature for a long time – I think this is key for a moist fruit cake. It took about 2,5 hours, The waiting was the hardest part!
The Finishing Touches
Once the cake was cooled, I brushed the top with some of the reserved brandy. I repeat this step for few days and keep the cake in the cool dry place. This step is absolutely worth it!
Finally, My fancy fruit cake is finish! It’s really good. It’s not perfect, but it’s my first try, so that’s acceptable. It’s definitely something I’ll try again, maybe with different fruit and nut combinations next time.
