Cherry Date Fruitcake Food

CRUSHED PINEAPPLE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Line an angel food pan with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.
• Cream butter or margarine, and then beat in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in extract. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in raisins, cherries, pineapple, and mixed peel. Cover bowl and let sit at room temperature, 8 hours to overnight.
• Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 2 1/2 hours with a pan of hot water placed on the lowest rack of your oven during baking. Brush warm cake with some melted butter.

DRIED CHERRY-ALMOND FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• For cake:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter and flour 10-inch-diameter nonstick angel food cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Toss first 4 ingredients with 1/2 cup flour in large bowl to coat.
• Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars in another large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, blending well after each addition. Beat in rum, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Stir in dried fruit mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan, flattening to eliminate air pockets. Bake until tester inserted near center of cake comes out clean and cake is deep golden brown, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes.
• For syrup:
• Whisk rum and maple syrup in bowl. Spoon half over warm cake in pan. Let stand until absorbed. Cut around cake to loosen; invert onto platter. Peel off paper. Spoon remaining syrup over cake. Let stand about 4 hours. (Can be made ahead. Cover and store at room temperature 1 day or chill up to 1 week.)

CHERRY FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Using a tube pan (line bottom with two greased layers of greased waxed paper, and grease sides of pan); or using two loaf pans or eight mini-loaf pans (line bottom/sides with two greased layers of waxed paper). Be generous with shortening on the layer next to the cake.
• Cut pineapple, red and green cherries in half; cut dates in 3 pieces.Using hands, combine pineapple, cherries, dates, and pecans in a large bowl. Add sugar, mix well, and set aside for 10 minutes.
• Beat eggs& vanilla until light and fluffy; pour over fruit and nut mixture. Using hands, mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour on above mixture until"syrupy", again, using hands.
• Preheat oven to 275°F Add cake mixture evenly to pans and pack down tightly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, approximately 90 minutes for a tube pan; 1 1/4 hr for 2 loaf pans; and check starting after an hour for mini-loaf pans.
• Remove cake (s) from oven, cool slightly, and remove waxed paper while still warm.

CHERRY-ALMOND FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper.
• Place the raisins and sherry in a small saucepan and heat gently for 5 minutes so the raisins will absorb the sherry. Remove from the heat and stir in the cherries and 3 tablespoons of the ground almonds. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and almond extract, and stir in the remaining ground almonds. Fold in the raisins and cherries.
• Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and fold gently into the cherry batter with a large metal spoon.
• Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the loaf pan. If desired, turn the cooled cake over, poke a few holes in the bottom, and drizzle it with a few tablespoons of sweet sherry. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

CHERRY DATE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Add the pecans, cherries, pineapple and dates; toss to coat. Beat eggs and apple juice; add to fruit mixture and mix well. Grease two foil-lined 9x5-in. loaf pans. Press half of the mixture into each pan. , Bake at 300° for 1-3/4 to 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans; carefully remove foil. Brush loaves with corn syrup. Cool completely.

THE BEST FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combine the raisins, currants, apricots, figs, prunes, dates, walnuts, pecans, orange zest, lemon zest, candied ginger, pumpkin pie spice and cloves in a large bowl and toss to combine. Add 1 cup of the brandy, orange liqueur and molasses and stir to coat. Cover and set aside to macerate overnight. (Alternatively, cover the bowl and microwave 2 minutes, or until very hot. Leave covered and let sit until almost all the liquid has been absorbed into the fruit and nuts, about 2 hours.)
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray and line each with 2 pieces of parchment, one lengthwise and one crosswise, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side. Spray the parchment with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour over the soaked fruit mixture and toss to coat. Whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
• Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to medium-low and beat in the flour mixture until the batter is blended and smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until all the fruit is coated in batter.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared pans, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until the cakes begin to pull away from the sides of the pans, the tops spring back slightly when pressed and a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons brandy. Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove each cake from its pan using the parchment overhang and place on the rack to cool completely.
• To store, wrap each loaf tightly in plastic and then foil. The wrapped fruitcakes can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to 3 months.

CHERRY FRUITCAKE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets.
• Sift flour, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat margarine and sugar until light. Stir in 1 cup of the sifted dry ingredients. Beat in the eggs and the wine to make a batter.
• Toss the the chopped pecans and the candied cherries in the remaining flour mixture; stir in batter. Drop dough by teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets
• Bake cookies in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

PECAN DATE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Grease and line three 8x4-in. loaf pans with waxed paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine dates, nuts and cherries. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir into fruit mixture until well coated. In a bowl, beat eggs and vanilla until foamy. Fold into fruit mixture and mix well. Pour into prepared pans., Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Remove waxed paper. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap and store in a cool, dry place.

SHERRY FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter with sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
• Separate the eggs and beat in the whites. Sift flour in the baking powder and gradually fold into the butter-sugar mixture with the salt. Mix well and add the ground almonds, candied peel and cherries. Add the currants with the soaking sherry. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold in.
• Grease an eight-inch round cake tin and line it with wax paper. Pour in the batter and decorate top with whole almonds. Bake one hour, then turn heat down to 300 degrees. Bake an hour more. The cake is done when a tester inserted in center comes out slightly sticky but pretty much clean.
• When cooked and while still hot, pour the remaining sherry over cake by spoonfuls and leave until cake is cold. Cover with sherry-soaked cheesecloth, wrap in aluminum foil and store in a tin or sealed plastic container.

EASY CAKELESS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
• Grease two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans and line with greased wax paper. Press the mixture firmly into the pans. Cover with buttered wax paper.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 and bake for 20 to 30 minutes longer. Cool the cakes on wire racks. Loosen around the sides with a spatula and invert on wire rack. While they are still warm, remove the wax paper carefully. Cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate.
• To serve, slice thickly with a very sharp knife. Cut slices into smaller pieces.

DATE AND NUT CAKE WITH CHERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Butter a 9" square cake pan.
• Put dates, butter and baking soda in a bowl. Carefully pour boiling water over the dates; let cool.
• Meanwhile, mix flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix egg and vanilla.
• When the date mixture is cool, stir in egg mixture and then stir in flour mixture.
• Stir in nuts and cherries.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan; bake for about 25-30 minutes.