Lighten Up That Doorstop by Mark Bittman

Pity the poor, maligned fruitcake. Who hasn’t heard of the same
fruitcake that gets passed around every year and then sits on a shelf
until the next holiday season? The poor things are often referred to
as bricks, paperweights or doorstops. Most people either love it or
hate it. Don’t blame the fruitcake, blame the recipe! There are many
different styles and recipes to choose from, so give fruitcake
another chance.

Fruitcakes have been making the rounds for centuries. In general,
fruitcakes can include any and all of the following: candied fruit,
dried fruit, fruit rind, nuts, spices and some sort of liquor or
brandy. The ratio of fruit and nuts to batter is fairly high, with
just enough cake batter to hold it all together. This naturally
results in a very dense, moist, heavy cake, no doubt giving rise to
the doorstop reference. There are two basic types:

– Light Fruitcake:
This type is made with light-colored ingredients such as granulated
sugar, light corn syrup, almonds, golden raisins, pineapple, apricots
and the like.

– Dark Fruitcake:
Darker ingredients are used such as molasses, brown sugar, and
darker-colored fruits like raisins, prunes, dates, cherries, pecans
and walnuts.

Those who don’t like fruitcake generally point the finger at the
candied citron or fruits used in the cake. Candied citron is made
from the thick peel of the citrus fruit of the same name. Candied
fruit, most commonly pineapple, cherry and citrus rind, is made by
dipping or boiling pieces of fruit in a heavy syrup and then drying
them. They are often rolled in granulated sugar after the drying
process. If you don’t like candied fruits or peels, try substituting
plain dried fruit pieces in your fruitcake.

After being slowly baked, the finished fruitcakes get their
preservative treatment. Cheesecloth is soaked in brandy, bourbon,
whiskey, rum or other liquor and then wrapped around the cooled
fruitcake. The whole shebang is then wrapped in foil to ripen and
age.

Fruitcakes soaked in liquor can literally last for years if you
periodically add more liquor. Some fruitcake fans won’t even touch a
fruitcake until it has aged at least three years, although it’s
generally recommended that soaked fruitcakes be consumed within two
years. Fruitcake should be tightly wrapped and stored in the
refrigerator. Unwrap every few months and drizzle with liquor.
Re-wrap tightly. Interestingly enough, although fruitcake can be
frozen, its life is shorter than if refrigerated, only one year.

When serving liquor-soaked fruitcake, remember a little goes a long
way. One fruitcake provides double the amount of servings of a
standard cake or loaf of equal size.

Holiday Fruit Cake
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1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 3/4 cups currants
1 1/4 cups mixed candied citrus peel
1/2 grated nutmeg pod
1 cup slivered almonds
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 1/4 cups flour
dry sherry for sprinkling

Generously grease and line with parchment paper an 8-inch round pan,
or grease and flour a 5-cup ring mold; set aside. Cream the butter
and gradually add the sugar, beating until the mixture is light and
fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the milk. In a separate bowl, combine the currants, candied peel,
nutmeg, almonds, and lemon zest with 3/4 cup of flour. Add the
remaining cup of flour and lemon juice to the egg batter; mix well.
Fold in the fruit and nut mixture. Pour into a prepared pan and bake
in a 300F oven for 2 hours or until a fine skewer inserted into the
cake comes out clean.

Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan or mold with a knife and
allow to cool on a wire rack before unmolding. Sprinkle the cake with
a little sherry, allow to cool completely. Wrap well and refrigerate.