Fabulous holiday fruitcake pt 1

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Dried pears; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1 cup Dried peaches; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1 cup Dried apricots; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1 cup Dried prunes; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1 cup Pitted dates; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1¾ cup Dried apples; cut-up:6 oz. packed
1 cup Seedless raisins; 5 oz packed
1 cup Golden raisins; 5 oz packed
2½ ounce Dried currants; 1/2c packed
½ cup Candied yellow pineapple; chopped (optional)
1 cup Dark rum; or brandy
Solid shortening
Butter flavored no stick cooking spray
1 large Egg
3 Whole egg whites
1¾ cup Light brown sugar; packed
½ cup Canola oil; or safflower oil
½ cup Honey
⅓ cup Apple juice; or orange juice
2 cups Unsweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 tablespoons Grated orange peel; or 1/2 tsp pure orange oil or extract
2¼ cup All-purpose flour; unsifted
1 cup Whole wheat pastry flour; unsifted or use all all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Baking soda
¾ teaspoon Salt
1½ teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
½ teaspoon Ground cloves
⅓ cup Wheat germ
Dark rum or brandy for soaking cakes; optional
2 Recipes Vanilla Icing Glaze
Pecan or walnut halves; optional or blanched whole almonds, optional
1 cup Confectioner's sugar
1½ tablespoon Apple juice; up to 2 tbl or strained orange juice, dark rum, or brandy
¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract

Directions

FRUIT

CAKE

VANILLA ICING GLAZE

Fabulous Holiday Fruitcake (from Susan Purdy's Have Your Cake and Eat it Too)

"This recipe is your special reward for buying this book. You will thank me, I promise. This is a fruitcake you can, and will, love. You will make it, serve it, and eat it with pleasure. This fruit- cake never has been or will be, recycled, used to fill a pothole, used to pound nails, used as an anchor. The recipe, rather than the fruitcake itself, will become a heirloom you will pass to your child as I have to mind.

There are two secret ingredients here: the cake and the fruit. A moist, lightly spiced applesauce cake with a fine, flavorful crumb binds a cornucopia of naturally sweet (not candied) dried fruits. Not a red or green one in the lot. Just natural, organic, dried fruits from the natural food store or fine grocery cut up with kitchen shears or chopped with a knife. Try apples, apricots, pears, peaches, pineapple, prunes, dates, black and golden raisins, and currants. Not creative enough? Add dried mango or papaya, or dried cherries, cranberries, or blueberries. Candied pineapple is neither medicinal nor chemical in taste; it is the one holdover that I occasionally use. I have avoided nuts because they are so high in fat, and with the great variety of ingredients, I don't miss them.

If you wish, you can use halved nuts to garnish the cake top along with the Vanilla Icing Glaze.

A perfect Christmas gift cake, this makes one-stop shopping: You get eight small loaves with this recipe.

Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients; fruitcake is supposed to have a lot of stuff in it."

Yield: Makes 14 cups of batter; 8 small loaves (5½ x 3 x 2 ⅛), 8 continued in part 2

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