Fruitcake A La Allard

Recipe Ingredients

1 cup	198g / 7oz	Butter - room temperature,
2 cups	396g / 13oz	Eggs - room temp (large)
2 cups	396g / 13oz	Sugar (firmly packed if using brown)
1 teaspoon	5ml	Vanilla
2 cups	292g / 10oz	Dates pitted - coarsely chopped
1/2 cup	73g / 2.6oz	Dried prunes coarsely chopped
1 cup	146g / 5.1oz	Dried apricots coarsely chopped
1/4 cup	36g / 1.3oz	Dried pineapple coarsely chopped
1/4 cup	36g / 1.3oz	Dried papaya spears coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon	5ml	Candied orange zest
2 cups	320g / 11oz	Seedless dark raisins
2 cups	292g / 10oz	Walnuts - coarsely chopped
3 cups	711ml	Applesauce - unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Salt
1 teaspoon	5ml	Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon	2.5ml	Cloves
4 cups	250g / 8.8oz	Flour - sifted
1 tablespoon	15ml	Baking soda
1 teaspoon	5ml	Oil - (optional)

Recipe Instructions

3 Baking Pans 9 x 4 x 3, greased with butter or shortening.

Preparation: About 4 hours before starting, put butter and eggs on counter to warm to room temperature. Alternately, put butter in microwave and heat for 15-20 sec. in a small dish. Eggs can be placed in a small bowl of warm (not hot) water to bring them up to temperature, this takes about 20 min.

Grease baking pans with butter, oil or shortening. This will keep cakes from sticking to the pans.

In a food processor or with sharp knives, coarsely chop the dried fruit (except the raisins) and put in a large bowl. (Hint: if using a food processor, carefully apply a thin coat of oil to the blade before putting the fruit in the bowl. This will keep the papaya and apricots which can be sticky in nature from attaching themselves to the blade. do the walnuts last and they will help to remove any small particles sticking to the sides of the bowl.) Add raisins to this bowl as well. If using whole cinnamon and cloves (highly recommended) grind them up in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Hint: for a crusty fruitcake with a wonderful texture place a shallow pan on the bottom rack of your oven and fill it with water at this point)

(This has been called the greatest fruitcake in the world by people who HATE FRUITCAKE. And People who LOVE FRUITCAKE usually ask for more than one)

Into a large bowl, place the sugar and the butter cut into small pieces. With either a hand mixer or a free standing one, blend until this mixture is creamy (about 3-4 minutes). Add the eggs, while beating one at a time. Then add vanilla, blend a few seconds more.

Combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt and baking soda in a small bowl. Using a sifter or strainer, sift the flour in 3 batches into the sugar/butter mixture while blending. Beat for a few moments, making sure to clean the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add Applesauce and mix thoroughly.

Add batter to the bowl containing the dried fruits. Stir to combine fruits and batter. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl to get all of the ingredients incorporated.

Pour the batter into the greased baking pans. Smooth tops with the spatula.

Place baking pans on the top shelf of the preheated oven. If you have a spray bottle filled with water, at this time spritz (Spray) the top area of the oven with water. Bake fruitcakes at 350F for one hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes total), or until a toothpick inserted all the way into the center of the cakes comes out clean. If you are using the spray bottle, spritz the oven twice more during the first 10 to 15 minutes of the baking cycle. If using a tray of water (I do both) check after 30 minutes and add more HOT water if needed.

Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool, in pans on cooling racks for 45 minutes or an hour. Then remove from pans and allow cakes to cool completely on the racks. If you immediately fill the pans after removing the cakes with water, they will be much easier to clean.

Source:
Flo Burnett, Shattuck, OK

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