Carolyns Christmas Fruitcake Recipes

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour or coat a 10" tube pan with cooking spray, set aside.
• 2. Mix together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until mixed well. Combine flour and salt. Add to sugar/egg mixture and mix thoroughly by hand, DO NOT use a mixer at this point!
• 3. Using your hands, mix in candied fruits, nuts, coconut and orange juice. When mixed spread into tube pan. Bake 2 1/2 hours. At 2 hours, check with a tooth pick. Cake is done when tooth pick comes out clean. Cool completely before removing from pan.

Steps:

• Soak cherries, mango, cranberries, currants, and citron in 1/4 cup rum for at least 24 hours. Cover tightly, and store at room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Butter a 6x3-inch round pan or loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; mix into butter and sugar in three batches, alternating with molasses and milk. Stir in soaked fruit and chopped nuts. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then sprinkle with 2 tablespoons rum.
• Cut out one piece parchment paper and one piece cheesecloth, each large enough to wrap around the cake. Moisten cheesecloth with 1 tablespoon rum. Arrange cheesecloth on top of parchment paper, and unmold cake onto it. Sprinkle top and sides of cake with remaining rum. Wrap the cheesecloth closely to the surface of the cake, then wrap with paper. Place in an airtight tin, and age for at least 10 weeks. If storing longer, douse with additional rum for every 10 weeks of storage.

Steps:

• Combine all fruits, preserves, vanilla and liquor in a large bowl. Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place overnight.
• Add hazelnuts, coconut and pecans to the fruits, mix well and set aside. Butter and flour four loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Make batter in two batches for greater ease of working. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup of butter until it is light and fluffy. Beat in 1 cup of brown sugar, a little at a time. Beating continuously, add 6 eggs, one at a time.
• Mix flour and spices together and sift half the mixture over batter. Fold together well.
• Mix half the fruits and nuts into batter and turn into two loaf pans. For second batch, repeat the last three steps with remaining ingredients.
• Cover loaf pans with aluminum foil and place in preheated oven. Bake for 2 hours. Remove foil and bake 40 minutes longer.
• Remove cakes from oven, run a knife around edges of the pans and turn upside down on a cake rack. Leave to cool. When cakes are thoroughly cool, wrap well in cheesecloth and pour liquor on top, bottom and sides until cheesecloth is soaked. Wrap each cake in several layers of aluminum foil to protect them from the air. They are ready to eat in two to three weeks, although the longer they're kept the better they are. Open every few weeks and add more liquor if cheesecloth seems dry.