I've always loved Christmas:
everything Christmas. The planning, the preparations, the shopping, the forgotten promises from previous years, and yes, even the waiting for it. And I'm sure there are many others just like me out there, so I thought I'd start collecting my thoughts and ideas in a blog.
I hope to share some reminiscences, recipes, decorating ideas, gift ideas, photos, etc. And I look forward to reading your comments and suggestions and hope that you will share some of the
simplest things with me.
As Nova Scotia experiences one of the warmest Septembers on record, you wouldn't imagine it would put one in the mood for thoughts of Christmas. But I keep Christmas with me all year round--even on the darkest and hottest of days--and after all, it's 89 days and counting! It's almost time to think about making that fruitcake!
I get a kick out of this image--a fruitcake being used as a doorstop!
Sacrilege! I guess I'm one of the handful of people on the planet who love fruitcake. It was always traditional Christmas fare in our house when I was growing up--and it just doesn't seem like Christmas without it.
My Mom has stopped making the heavy, delicious cakes she used to make, as arthritis makes the mixing just too difficult. Years ago, she used to make both a dark
and light fruitcake (much to my Dad's delight), but omitted the dark a few years ago. Her cakes were always moist and fudge-like in consistency, baked to a perfect golden brown and
never iced. Heavy, fragrant, spicy, fruit-filled delights! The recipe she used was one her mother made...one of those stained and sticky pages of the cookbook which was closely guarded.
She would watch the store flyers, beginning in early October, until the ingredients were at the best price, and then stock up on candied green and red cherries, pineapple, mixed fruit and peel, golden raisins and bags of almonds. Only real butter would do (which is probably why her cakes were so moist), and the spices had to be fresh as well.
An evening would be set aside for the preparation of the fruit and nuts which had to be chopped and floured and set aside in a huge mixing bowl. It's a lot of work, and it's hard work, to make a fruitcake! The next morning, the batter would be mixed, the fruit added and mixed with her bare hands, then patted into an appropriate pan--usually a tube pan which gave an even bake.
I wasn't allowed near the kitchen once the cake had been put in the oven, lest I should jump and cause the cake to fall. Hours later, the delicious aroma would fill the house and the cake would be turned out onto a rack to cool, with the appropriate
ooohs and
aaahs. As a little girl, I didn't like fruitcake either, but as I got older, and exchanged my milk and juice for tea and coffee, I discovered there was nothing more delicious than a slice of fruitcake and a cup of hot brew.
Here is a recipe for
Easy Light Fruitcake from the
Company's Coming Cakes book that I have made a few times and which always turned out well. Make at least a few weeks ahead.
Easy Light Fruitcake
1 lb candied cherries, halved
5 (or more) candied pineapple rings, cut up
2 lbs golden raisins
1/2 lb cut mixed candied peel
1 cup pecans or almonds (other nuts may be used)
1 cup flour
1 lb butter (margarine may be used but butter is better)
2 cups white sugar
6 eggs (at room temperature)
1/4 cup prepared orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I usually use closer to 1 tsp)
almonds for decoration
Preheat oven to 275F (140C). This batter will fill two 9x5x3" loaf pans with some left over. I use a 10" tube pan. Whatever pan you choose to use, fill only 3/4 full of batter and grease with shortening and flour well. Recipe calls for lining pans with brown paper, but I've never found that necessary.
Mix first 6 ingredients together well in bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in orange juice and vanilla.
Combine second amount of flour, baking powder, and salt. Add and stir. Add floured fruit and mix together. Spoon in prepared pans.
(Arrange almonds on top at this point, if desired for decoration.) Bake in over for about 3 hours until an inserted wooden pick comes out clean. Cover with foil if top gets too dark while baking. Weighs approximately 9 pounds.
Mmm...fruitcake. Part of my holiday tradition and a simple thing, Christmas seasoned!
Christmas Seasoned
"I heard the bells on Christmas Day;
