Recipe: Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake & Christmas Cake

Although I can't give out recipes on request (I get too many requests to handle them all!) I did get lots of requests for fruitcakes predictably before the holidays. In the past, I've always made the Panpepato recipe from Room For Dessert, which is a dense & intense fruitcake, originating in Siena, Italy.

So by January, I finally got around to making some American-style fruitcakes and here are the recipes. So bookmarks this page and come back next year and make them, or make them now and store them until next December, brushing them with rum every week or so. My friend Craig once gave me a fruitcake recipe that needed to sit for 10 years before it should be eaten...so waiting 11 months actually may not seem like such a long time to some of you.

If you're not really a fruitcake fan, the Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake is probably a good bet. It's really full of chocolate flavor, loaded with cherries... it's really good. Since cherry season is almost here, you can make the candied cherry recipe that's in Room For Dessert, or buy good-quality cherries from a well-stocked market (the best ones are Italian, labeled Amarena cherries, but you can use whatever is available). Make sure to use very good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, since it give the cake its deep, rich chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake
2 nine-inch loaves

1 1/2 cups dried cherries (or cranberries)

1 1/2 cups red candied cherries (or other dried fruit)

1/4 cup + 6 tablespoons rum or brandy

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt (regular or low fat)

1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips

2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Butter and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans.

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the dried cherries, candied cherries and 1/4 cup of the rum or brandy. Set aside for 1 hour.

2. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Either by hand, or with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated (if using an electric mixer, stop and scrape the bowl once or twice).

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add one-third of the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, beat briefly, then add the buttermilk or yogurt, then the remaining flour. Mix just until smooth.

4.Stir in the cherries (and any unabsorbed liquor) and the nuts.

5. Pour the batter in to pans and bake for 65-70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. While the cakes are warm, pour 3 tablespoons of rum or brandy over each cake. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack.

If you're not going to serve the cakes within a few days, you can either freeze them, well wrapped in plastic wrap for 3-4 months, or brush them all over with additional liquor (be generous!), wrap in plastic film and store in a cool, dry place.

This recipe is adapted from The Baking Sheet (holiday 1998) published by the King Arthur Flour Company. (http://www.kingarthurflour.com)

My inspiration for this cake was a photograph from the Williams-Sonoma catalog. Although it bears little resemblance to the original, I was inspired by a gorgeous photo of a lofty wedge of cake, perched festively on a well-polished cake server (which was almost forty-dollars...for the cake! not the server). My friend, Flo Braker, dug up the original recipe and I adapted it to my liking.

If you like, feel free to substitute a big handful of dried cherries or cranberries in place of some of the diced pineapple for more colors and flavor.

Christmas Cake
Two 9" loaf cakes

1 cup dark or light raisins

3/4 cups candied ginger

1/2 # dried figs or dates, quartered

1/2 # dried pineapple, cut into 1/2" pieces

grated zest of 2 oranges

1/4 cup dark rum (or Grand Marnier) plus a lot more for soaking the cakes

3/4 cups light brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups walnuts or pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

1 cup shelled pistachios

Butter and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans.

1. Toss the raisins, ginger, figs or dates, pineapple, and orange zest in the dark rum. Let stand 1 hour.

2. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

3. Either by hand, or with an electric mixer, cream together the brown sugar, honey and butter until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition, until incorporated. (if using an electric mixer, scrape the bowl during mixing. Mixture will look curdled-don't be alarmed!). In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder and the flour.

5. Stir in half of the flour, then the milk and vanilla extract, then the remaining flour. Mix only until smooth.

6. Add the nuts and macerated fruits.

7.Bake for 55 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and brush the tops with rum.

8. Let cool completely.

9. Soak a few pieces of cheesecloth in rum (or Grand Marnier) and swaddle each cake with the cheesecloth. Store in Zip lock bags, but leave the end slightly open. Every few days drizzle a bit more liquor to re-soak the cheesecloth.

You can keep this fruitcake for months, dousing the cheesecloth with liquor every now and then. Some claim you can keep it going for years! I haven't been able to keep one around that long in my house.