Stuff!
So, today after work I made fruitcake (which seems to have turned out great, and I think I have the recipe down now!) and also one other traditional (for my family) Christmas favourite called Carnival Roll, which is actually a lot easier to make than I'd thought (despite the myriad of possibilities for disaster with melted chocolate and marshmallows involved!)
I had dinner (left-over shrimp in green curry with rice) on my new dining room table, which I did get some decent pics of, and which I will post when I'm not so beat. And I left the kitchen nice and clean again. yay!
I promised to post the fruitcake here when it was done, so you could all see what the hype was about:
BRANWYN'S LIGHT FRUITCAKE
4.25c diced dried light-coloured fruit*
*Apricots, pears, peaches, cranberries, cherries, white figs, mango. Avoid "candied" fruits like glacé cherries and pineapple, candied pineapple, papaya and ginger. Do not use dates, currants, dark figs, prunes, papaya or apples. I exclude apples, even though they are light-coloured, because dried apples have a weird spongy texture that I don't like in this cake. I exclude papaya because, even after soaking in alcohol and cooking for almost 2h, they are still very hard and make the cake hard to cut; plus most dried papaya is heavily dyed to maintain its colour, which bleeds through the cake.
1.25c golden and/or lexia raisins
3T of good quality candied orange peel (Make it yourself to be sure! Recipe follows)
1c bourbon (or Southern Comfort) (may replace up to 0.25c of this with Grand Marnier if you like)
Chop fruit and measure, mix with alcohol, seal in non-reactive (glass or plastic) container and let sit overnight.
1 fresh, firm (Bartlett) pear, peeled, cored and coarsely grated.
1.5c pistachio nuts, shelled, chopped**
1/2c unsalted cashews, chopped**
**Quantities are for nuts before chopping.
Mix grated pear and nuts into fruit mixture
1c butter
1c white sugar
1.5T vanilla
1.25c all-purpose flour
0.125t baking soda***
0.125t cinnamon***
0.5t ground mace
0.5c sour cream (full fat)
8 eggs
1.5c cashews, ground into flour****
***0.125 is one-eighth, for the fraction-challenged.
****Quantities are for nuts before grinding. I use a regular blender to make my nuts into flour.
Cream butter until fluffy.
Add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy.
Add vanilla and beat.
Sift flour, baking soda and spices together (do not include ground nuts)
Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream in 3 lots, beginning with flour; blend well and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition.
Beat in eggs one at a time; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition. (Mixture will be really silky and smooth until the last egg is added, then it may look a little curdled. This is fine.)
Fold ground cashews into batter gently.
Fold fruit and nut mixture into batter gently, just enough to coat all fruit.
Pour into greased and lined pan(s). If you use springform pans, they do not need to be lined. Pans can be nearly full, this cake does not rise very much.
Bake at 325F for 1.25-1.75h, until a knife or tested inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on racks and then wrap tightly and store in fridge.
It's best after it sits about a week, and it will keep up to 3 weeks.
For best flavour, allow to come to room temperature before serving.
CANDIED ORANGE PEEL
Select four oranges (tangerines, clementines, use ones that smell best when the rind is scratched) with nice bright orange colour and smooth, unblemished skin.
Remove peel from oranges in quarters.
Cover with cold water, bring to boiling-point, and simmer until soft.
Drain & cool, remove white portion using a spoon or knife, and cut remaining orange portion into 0.25" wide strips.
Boil one-half cup water and one cup sugar until syrup will drip from the spoon in a thin stream (instead of droplets). Cook strips of orange peel in syrup five minutes, pour on plate or baking sheet to harden/dry (stir while hardening to prevent hardening into a lump).
Separate, air dry, store.
B.
I had dinner (left-over shrimp in green curry with rice) on my new dining room table, which I did get some decent pics of, and which I will post when I'm not so beat. And I left the kitchen nice and clean again. yay!
I promised to post the fruitcake here when it was done, so you could all see what the hype was about:
BRANWYN'S LIGHT FRUITCAKE
4.25c diced dried light-coloured fruit*
*Apricots, pears, peaches, cranberries, cherries, white figs, mango. Avoid "candied" fruits like glacé cherries and pineapple, candied pineapple, papaya and ginger. Do not use dates, currants, dark figs, prunes, papaya or apples. I exclude apples, even though they are light-coloured, because dried apples have a weird spongy texture that I don't like in this cake. I exclude papaya because, even after soaking in alcohol and cooking for almost 2h, they are still very hard and make the cake hard to cut; plus most dried papaya is heavily dyed to maintain its colour, which bleeds through the cake.
1.25c golden and/or lexia raisins
3T of good quality candied orange peel (Make it yourself to be sure! Recipe follows)
1c bourbon (or Southern Comfort) (may replace up to 0.25c of this with Grand Marnier if you like)
Chop fruit and measure, mix with alcohol, seal in non-reactive (glass or plastic) container and let sit overnight.
1 fresh, firm (Bartlett) pear, peeled, cored and coarsely grated.
1.5c pistachio nuts, shelled, chopped**
1/2c unsalted cashews, chopped**
**Quantities are for nuts before chopping.
Mix grated pear and nuts into fruit mixture
1c butter
1c white sugar
1.5T vanilla
1.25c all-purpose flour
0.125t baking soda***
0.125t cinnamon***
0.5t ground mace
0.5c sour cream (full fat)
8 eggs
1.5c cashews, ground into flour****
***0.125 is one-eighth, for the fraction-challenged.
****Quantities are for nuts before grinding. I use a regular blender to make my nuts into flour.
Cream butter until fluffy.
Add sugar gradually, beating until fluffy.
Add vanilla and beat.
Sift flour, baking soda and spices together (do not include ground nuts)
Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream in 3 lots, beginning with flour; blend well and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition.
Beat in eggs one at a time; scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula after each addition. (Mixture will be really silky and smooth until the last egg is added, then it may look a little curdled. This is fine.)
Fold ground cashews into batter gently.
Fold fruit and nut mixture into batter gently, just enough to coat all fruit.
Pour into greased and lined pan(s). If you use springform pans, they do not need to be lined. Pans can be nearly full, this cake does not rise very much.
Bake at 325F for 1.25-1.75h, until a knife or tested inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool on racks and then wrap tightly and store in fridge.
It's best after it sits about a week, and it will keep up to 3 weeks.
For best flavour, allow to come to room temperature before serving.
CANDIED ORANGE PEEL
Select four oranges (tangerines, clementines, use ones that smell best when the rind is scratched) with nice bright orange colour and smooth, unblemished skin.
Remove peel from oranges in quarters.
Cover with cold water, bring to boiling-point, and simmer until soft.
Drain & cool, remove white portion using a spoon or knife, and cut remaining orange portion into 0.25" wide strips.
Boil one-half cup water and one cup sugar until syrup will drip from the spoon in a thin stream (instead of droplets). Cook strips of orange peel in syrup five minutes, pour on plate or baking sheet to harden/dry (stir while hardening to prevent hardening into a lump).
Separate, air dry, store.
B.