TBB - English Dried Fruit Cake
Patricia @ ButterYum
Today Rose's Alpha Bakers share our 2nd selection as we bake our way through The Baking Bible. As a reminder, the recipes are not being shared, but I'll share my commentary about the recipe, followed by a full photo tutorial.
This week's selection - English Dried Fruit Cake. Note I said "fruit cake" and not "fruitcake." This fruit cake contains dried fruit rather than glacèed fruit and candied citron (both of which I detest). It also contains fresh apples, pecans, and if you choose, Rum.
Special equipment needed - Nothing too out of the ordinary here, just a simple 9x13-inch rectangular cake pan or two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans.
How does it taste - Better than I expected. This fruit cake was pleasingly moist and tasty, and it stayed fresh for days. I didn't use the optional rum, but doing so would have extended its shelf life even further. The suggested dried fruits to use were apples, prunes, apricots, and pears. I used prunes, apricots, and raisins. I omitted the pecans because I didn't have any in the house. I cut my fruitcake into 48 small squares - one square is packed full of flavor and was just enough to satisfy my taste for something sweet.
How does it look - Honestly, it looks very plain-jane, but don't let that stop you from trying it.
Skill level required - Super easy. Mix everything together by hand, pour into prepared cake pan, and bake. That's it.
Were the directions clear - Yes.
What would I do differently next time - I might like to try omitting the dried apricots and adding dried pears, and I'd be interested in knowing how the cake tastes with the addition of rum. Actually, it might be nice to use rum to soak the dried fruit.
Next up - The Ischler. An Austrian almond sandwich cookie with apricot and chocolate.
Okay, here's my photo tutorial.
Whisk the dry ingredients together.
Zest an orange - I like to use a microplane for this.
Weigh the eggs with a digital scale.
Cook the butter and sugars together for a minute until it looks like this.
Remove from heat and stir in the diced apples.
Stir the soaked fruit into the flour mixture.
Stir until all the fruit is coated.
Now add the apple mixture.
Oops, my bowl was close to overflowing so I switched to a bigger one.
This is an extra step I like to take whenever I make a cake that's 9 inches or larger. I use a cake heating core - it's a little extra insurance to ensure the cake bakes fully in the center.
Just plunge the core down into the center of the cake like this.
Ta-da - perfectly cooked all the way through.
Turn the cake out of the pan.
Pull the heating core out.
Cool, cut, and serve.
links to more alpha baker photo tutorials
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2016
- Dec 7, 2016 TBB - Luxury Chocolate Buttercrunch Toffee
- Sep 26, 2016 TBB - Bourbon (Whiskey) Pecan Butter Balls
- May 11, 2016 TBB - Blueberry Buckle
- Apr 5, 2016 TBB - Meringue Birch Twigs
- Jan 26, 2016 TBB - Lemon Almond Cheesecake
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2015
- Nov 19, 2015 The Hazelnut Praline Cookies that Never Were
- Sep 1, 2015 TBB - Flaky Cream Cheese Scones
- Aug 23, 2015 TBB - Woody's Black and White Brownies
- Jul 1, 2015 TBB - Praline Meringue Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Jun 23, 2015 Ricotta Loaf - The Bread Bible
- Jun 4, 2015 TBB - French Orange Cream Tart
- May 19, 2015 TBB - Double Chocolate Oriolos
- May 15, 2015 Touch of Grace Biscuits - The Bread Bible
- May 7, 2015 TBB - Blu-Rhu Mini Pies
- Apr 27, 2015 TBB - Lemon Jammies
- Apr 2, 2015 Pita Pizzas - The Bread Bible
- Mar 22, 2015 TBB - Luxury Oatmeal Cookies
- Mar 15, 2015 TBB - Sour Cherry Pie (Pi Day)
- Mar 9, 2015 TBB - Caramel Buns
- Mar 4, 2015 TBB - Hamantaschen (Purim)
- Feb 23, 2015 TBB - Lemon Posset Alma
- Feb 15, 2015 TBB - Chocolate Pavarotti with Wicked Good Ganache
- Feb 11, 2015 TBB - Golden Orange Panettone with Chocolate Sauce
- Feb 9, 2015 Panettone Delay
- Feb 2, 2015 TBB - Swedish Apricot Walnut Bread
- Jan 26, 2015 TBB - Gingersnaps
- Jan 19, 2015 Biga Fail
- Jan 12, 2015 TBB - Black and Blueberry Pie
- Jan 5, 2015 TBB - Chocolate Cuddle Cake
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2014
- Dec 29, 2014 TBB - Frozen Pecan Tart
- Dec 22, 2014 TBB - Almond Coffee Crisps
- Dec 15, 2014 TBB - The Ischler
- Dec 8, 2014 TBB - English Dried Fruit Cake
- Dec 1, 2014 TBB - Kouigns Amann (kween ah-mahn)
- Nov 5, 2014 Rose's Alpha Bakers - Intro