Christmas Memory Fruitcake
Submitted by HORSELOVER1
Christmas memory fruitcake steams then bakes a bourbon-soaked, dense old-fashioned fruitcake loaded with Brazil nuts, raisins, candied fruit, figs, and warming spices. Heirloom holiday recipe.
YIELD
48 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
5 hrsREADY
6 hrsChristmas memory fruitcake is the kind of holiday cake that takes a full day to make, six pounds of fruit and nuts to assemble, and decades to live down once you taste a real one. This is not the maligned doorstop fruitcake of office gift exchanges. The slow steam-then-bake method and a healthy pour of bourbon build a moist, deeply spiced cake that holds together in clean slices and improves with age.
The steam-bake hybrid is what sets this apart. Four-and-a-half hours of steaming over boiling water keeps the cake moist while the heavy fruit and nuts cook through evenly without scorching the outside. The final hour at 250°F (120°C) firms the surface without drying the interior.
Coating the chopped fruit and nuts in flour before mixing is critical. That dusting suspends them through the dense batter so they don’t sink to the bottom during the long bake.
Pro Tips
- Chop everything to similar size pieces. Uneven chunks bake unevenly, and a few large nut clusters can crack the cake when slicing.
- Use cold butter at room temperature, not soft. Truly soft butter won’t cream properly with this much sugar and the cake gets dense rather than rich.
- Line the cake tin with greased and floured wax paper as instructed. The long steam-and-bake will weld the cake to bare metal.
- Wrap the cooled cake in bourbon-soaked cheesecloth and store airtight for at least 2 weeks (or up to 3 months) before slicing. The aging mellows the spices and tightens the crumb.
Variations
- Swap bourbon for brandy, dark rum, or even strong tea (for a non-alcoholic version).
- Substitute candied orange peel for some of the citron for a more contemporary flavor.
- Brush the surface with warm apricot jam and decorate with whole nuts and candied fruits for a gift-worthy finish.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the fruits and nuts into small pieces, and coat them with some of the flour.
Cream the butter and sugar together, adding one egg at a time, beating well.
Add the rest of the flour.
Add the floured fruits and nuts, spices, seasoning, and flavorings.
Mix by hand.
Line a large cake tin with wax paper, grease, then flour.
Pour the mixture into the pan and put it in a steamer over cold water.
Close the steamer and bring the water to a rolling boil.
Lower the heat and steam the cake for about four-and-one-half hours.
Preheat oven to around 250 degrees F, and bake for one hour.
Spread with a layer of vanilla icing if desired.
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