Fruitcake recipe and blueberry question
So, I've googled my little heart out and still can't find exactly what I need. My grandmother always made home-made fruitcake for my mom. She's gone now, and my grandfather just died a few months ago. I thought it would be a really great Christmas gift to make one for her like my grandmother did. The problem here is, she never wrote down recipes. I was able to get from my mom that it was "the dark kind" of fruitcake. It wasn't dried fruit, but all candied. All of the recipes I've found are either all dried, not candied, or just maybe 2 types of candied.
I need a recipe for a darker fruitcake with a variety of candied fruits. Also, how can I candy the fruits myself? And after candying, do I dehydrate them before using or just throw them in freshly candied? I do have a fairly simple dehydrator to use.
Next question:
I want to make a recipe jar for my brother. The recipe I found is blueberry scones. It needs dehydrated blueberries, dehydrated lemon peel, and vanilla sugar. Can I just buy frozen blueberries, thaw and dehydrate? Would those taste good, or really off? I'm planning on just dehydrating my own lemon peel, because I can't find it anywhere. Lastly, for the vanilla sugar. I can't find vanilla beans! :( Where would I be more likely to find them? (I have a Stracks, Wiseway, Meijer, and Walmart by me, I've checked Walmart and Meijer already). If I can't find them, could I just use a substantial amount of pure vanilla and let it blend that way?
Thank you for reading this as well. You guys always have amazing advice.
I need a recipe for a darker fruitcake with a variety of candied fruits. Also, how can I candy the fruits myself? And after candying, do I dehydrate them before using or just throw them in freshly candied? I do have a fairly simple dehydrator to use.
Next question:
I want to make a recipe jar for my brother. The recipe I found is blueberry scones. It needs dehydrated blueberries, dehydrated lemon peel, and vanilla sugar. Can I just buy frozen blueberries, thaw and dehydrate? Would those taste good, or really off? I'm planning on just dehydrating my own lemon peel, because I can't find it anywhere. Lastly, for the vanilla sugar. I can't find vanilla beans! :( Where would I be more likely to find them? (I have a Stracks, Wiseway, Meijer, and Walmart by me, I've checked Walmart and Meijer already). If I can't find them, could I just use a substantial amount of pure vanilla and let it blend that way?
Thank you for reading this as well. You guys always have amazing advice.