Friday night spent out with a bunch of people I went to high school with. Wasn’t supposed to be like that, but for whatever reason, the other people didn’t show. Ended up with 7 of us from the same graduating class hanging around celebrating various milestones in life/school/whatever.
Saturday was spent running errands, making fruitcake, and watching movies. Yeah, what am I doing making fruitcake at this time of year? Well, at the end of the holiday season there was a cart of reduced price candied fruit at Giant that my sister and I happened across. We both like fruitcake, so I figured I’d get a container and see if I could make something that was any good. Anyway, it got set aside and I forgot about it for a little while and then I forgot about it, then got busy… and this weekend I decided it was time.
Spent the afternoon before the fruitcake fiasco watching City of Sars with my parents. Funny movie. Kinda weird, but expected. After my fruitcake fiasco, spent the evening watching Blade Runner with Ian.
Sunday, went with Ian to try out a new sushi place. It was good, but due to the lack of customers, we were very well chaperoned throughout our meal. I’m not sure if it was because we went a little bit late for lunch or if it was because of their location or some other reason, but we were the only people in there at the time. I don’t think it was because of a lack of quality in their food. Just no customers. Highlight of the visit: Spicy Crazy Tuna. It was crazy spicy. Not very much of an initial kick, but a lingering spiciness that hits you right after you finish a piece.
Watched The Last Samurai with Ian after sushi and then went over to hang out with my sister and grandmother at my parents’ house while they were out.
The Adventures of Fruitcake:
Got a recipe from Betty Crocker and went about trying to gather up ingredients and supplies. I didn’t know what a Brazil nut was, but I figured Giant would have them. I was, of course, incorrect in my assumption. Well, I could just replace it with another nut, right? Right… but what kind? I don’t know what a Brazil nut is, much less what nut is similar enough to replace it in a recipe. Call my mom, because, well, moms know everything, right? Apparently not. She didn’t know what a Brazil nut was either.
So, I decide to head back to the bakery section and ask someone back there. They make stuff… They’ll know what a Brazil nut is, right? Well, I get the attention of one of the women working back there and she comes up to ask if she could help me with something. I ask her if she knows what a Brazil nut is and explain that I have a recipe that calls for it, but since they don’t have them, is there something else I could replace it with? She doesn’t know what a Brazil nut is either.
She calls over another woman working there and the woman she was talking to before being interrupted comes over too. One of the women knows what a Brazil nut is, but doesn’t seem to like them. She says that they’re really hard and they’re not used for much besides fruitcake, so they’re out of season. That’s why I can’t buy them now. I then reveal that I am in fact making a fruitcake, so she tells me to use walnuts instead. Brazil nuts are too hard; don’t use those.
The Accidental Husband divx Fast-forward 2.5 hours later: two loaves of very dense, very heavy fruitcake are complete. Must wait 24 hours before cutting. Apparently this is a very fast recipe. Most of the recipes I found took 3 to 4 weeks to complete. You have to let the cake age and soak in your alcohol of choice or pour alcohol over it every day for the specified amount of time. Anyway, I might invest that much time in it next time, but this time I just wanted to try.
End result — I let the outside brown too much. I left it in for extra time because it didn’t seem to be done, but I took the cover off because I got impatient after the first additional 15 minutes. It was much too dense, but I didn’t know what uncooked fruitcake was supposed to look like anyway. When it filled two loaf pans instead of one, I should have added more flour and eggs to make 3 loaves instead, but I didn’t know any better. In any case, my family seemed to enjoy it. Very sweet and fairly moist inside due to the excess of candied fruit.
Betty Crocker: Jeweled Fruitcake
2 cups dried apricot halves (11 ounces)*
2 cups pitted whole dates (12 ounces)*
1 1/2 cups Brazil nuts (8 ounces)*
1 cup red and green candied pineapple, chopped (7 ounces)*
1 cup red and green whole maraschino cherry, drained (12 ounces)*
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
Light corn syrup, if desired
1. Heat oven to 300°F. Line loaf pan, 9x5x3 or 8 1/2×4 1/2×2 1/2 inches, with aluminum foil; grease foil. Mix all the ingredients except corn syurp. Spread in pan.
2. Bake about 1 hour 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If necessary, cover with aluminum foil for last 30 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning.
3. Remove fruitcake from pan (with foil) to wire rack. For a glossy top, immediately brush with corn syrup. Cool completely before cutting, about 24 hours. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator no longer than 2 months.
*Replaced apricot, cherries, and pineapples with the candied fruit concoction. Replaced Brazil nuts with Walnuts. Used chopped pitted dates instead of whole.
Ok, those are pretty much the highlights. I think I’m done. I don’t know why you’re still reading. I just realized I spent over half this entry talking about fruitcake. What a fun life I lead… ;) -j.
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