My Ideal Fruitcake

I love fruitcake, when it's done well. But frankly, I'm not a fan of loads of spices and candied things in my fruitcake, or any at all for that matter. Between the alcohol, the dried fruit, and the citrus zest, fruitcakes have a lot going on in the flavor department without the addition of cloying spices like cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

So when I decided to consult some recipes and develop my own fruitcake, I wanted to leave out the spices and accent the fruit angle. With that said, you won't find candied cherries or candied peel in this recipe. You may as well use Skittles and Starbursts if you go that route. What you will find is over 2lbs of fruit, bourbon, and lemon and orange zest. You will find a moist cake with a complex, fruity flavor. You will find my ideal fruitcake.



Fruitcake
yield: one bad ass fruitcake

6 oz calimyrna figs (about 8)
4 - 5 oz dates
8 oz apricots
6 oz currants
8oz raisins

1 cup good bourbon (I prefer Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve, but Maker's can work in a pinch)

Note: Don't go insane about the amounts. Eyeball it. 6 oz of figs is one package. Raisins come in 12oz boxes so use roughly 2/3 of the box.

First thing's first: chop the figs, dates, and apricots so that they're roughly the same size and a little bit larger than the raisins. Pour the bourbon over and stir the fruit so that it's all coated. Let this mixture macerate in the refrigerator overnight or longer if you can. Let the fruit come back to life a little bit. A quick zap in the microwave (5 minutes, stirring every minute or so) can speed this process up as well.



1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of 2 medium lemons
zest of 2 medium to large oranges
4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9-inch bundt cake pan. Sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Bring out the macerating fruit. I let mine go for about 24 hours and there wasn't enough liquid to worry about draining off.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and the zests. Beat the eggs in one at a time until fully incorporated. Gradually add in the dry ingredients mixing until just combined. Fold in the fruit. Pour into bundt pan, smoothing the top. The cake pan will be quite full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 - 20 minutes.

Using toothpicks or skewers, poke holes in the cake, and brush the bottom with extra bourbon. Let it sit until the bourbon is absorbed. Invert onto a plate or cake carrier. Brush with more bourbon now that the cake is right-side up. Wrap in a bourbon-soaked cheesecloth, then in plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container adding bourbon to keep the cheesecloth moist as needed. Let it sit for two days at least.