Nees White Fruitcake Food

WHITE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Chop pineapple, raisins, and cherries. Combine chopped fruit with currants, orange peel, and citron; soak in orange juice overnight.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). Place a small pan of water in the oven. Line one 5x9 inch loaf pan and two 3x8 inch loaf pans with parchment or doubled waxed paper.
• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioner's sugar. Stir in beaten egg yolks. Stir in fruit, juice, and pecans. Mix in sifted flour.
• In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites to peaks. Fold into batter. Fill pans 2/3 full.
• Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours until golden brown, or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

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.

HOLIDAY WHITE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°. Line bottoms of four greased 9x5-in. loaf pans with parchment; grease parchment., In a small bowl, toss candied fruit, raisins and walnuts with 1/2 cup flour. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in remaining flour. Fold in fruit mixture., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.

WHITE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300°F and line loaf pans with parchment paper.
• Blend eggs, vanilla, sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl.
• Add salt, baking powder, and flour and mix.
• Mix in pineapple and juice, cherries, raisins, dried cherries, and pecans.
• Fill the tins with fruit cake batter and spread to even the surface.
• Bake at 300° for 1 1⁄2 hours. Start testing for doneness with 20 minutes left, to prevent over-cooking.

NEE'S WHITE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
• Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and set aside.
• Cream sugar and butter together until well blended.
• Add egg yolks and extracts and beat for 2 minutes.
• Add the baking soda into the sour cream; mix well and let sit for 3 minutes.
• Once 3 minutes are up, add the sour cream to the cake mixture.
• Add 1 ½ cups flour and beat well. Once this mixture is well beaten, fold in your egg whites.
• (I used my Kitchen Aid with the wire beater to mix everything to this point. Once I get to this stage, I use the hook or the other flat beater attachment---this makes the whole mixing bowl FULL). Anyway, once the egg whites are folded in, fold in your coconut and pecans.
• In a medium bowl with a lid (so you can shake), put the remaining 1 ½ cup flour, the cherries, and pineapple chunks; cover and shake well to cover the fruit.
• Once the fruit is covered, add this (flour and fruit) to the cake mixture and blend until it is all mixed well. The flour keeps the fruit from all dropping to the bottom.
• In a GOOD QUALITY tube pan which has been well sprayed with non-stick spray and lightly floured, pour the cake mixture into the pan, lightly spreading it evenly.
• On top of the cake batter, place your pineapple slices, lightly pushing them into the batter. If you have extra room, you might like to put a few cherries too for color.
• Bake this at 275 degrees for 2 ½ hours. After an hour or so, the top will begin to get a darker brown. When it gets to the point of brown that I like, I lightly place a piece of foil over the top to keep it from getting too brown.
• Use a wooden kabob skewer or something similar to test for doneness.
• Once it is done, remove it from the oven and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes before removing from the pan. I dump mine out on a plate, then get another plate to transfer it so the pineapple/top part is actually on top instead of the bottom.

THE WORLD'S BEST FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Place coconut, dates, and pecan pieces in a very large (7 quart or larger) bowl. With your hands break up chunks of dates & coconut, and stir those 3 ingredients together.
• Add the cherries, pineapple, and sweetened condensed milk. Stir thoroughly. (I wear non-powdered surgical gloves, and stir it with my hands because the mixture is very stiff.).
• Let set at room temperature while you prepare the pans. Spray 2 - 9"x5" loaf pans with Pam. Line the pans with waxed (or parchment) paper. (We cut parchment paper in 4 1/4"x 16 1/4" and 8"x 12 1/2" strips for this. You want the paper to come up past the sides of the pans after the mixture is packed into the pans. It seems like a lot of work, but it's well worth the effort!) Now spray the paper (after you've pressed it into the pans) with Pam.
• Stir the ingredients well again.Divide the ingredients equally between the 2 loaf pans.
• Pack VERY TIGHTLY and smoothly into the pans. (I wet my hands & press, pack down, & smooth top, using both hands. Wetting your hands keeps them from sticking to "batter".).
• Place the pans on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour, or until lightly browned. (If the cakes have baked for an hour, or look a little brown around the edges, take them out of the oven & lift edges of paper a little to see if sides look brown enough. If they're brown on sides, but not on top, you may broil the tops for a few minutes-watch carefully.).
• Remove cakes from oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pans.
• Gently lift the edges of the paper a couple of times on each side - kind of a rocking motion. Turn pans upside down onto a paper-lined cookie sheet. Lift pans from the cakes. Remove paper from bottom of cakes IMMEDIATELY.
• Let cool completely. Place in a large container (don't wrap yet) and refrigerate overnight.
• Turn cake upside down to slice. After slicing, wrap in waxed (or parchment) paper, then in heavy duty aluminum foil.
• May be refrigerated up to 3 months or frozen up to 1 year.

WHITE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• cream butter well,add sugar,and cream until fluffy.
• beat eggs well and add,blend with creamed mixture.
• chop fruit and nuts and mix with a small amount of the flour.
• sift remaining flour.
• fold into creamed mixture.
• add flavoring.
• fold in fruits and nuts.
• line a tube pan or loaf pans with greased wax paper.
• pour in batter.
• put in a cold oven and bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours.
• loaf pans for 2 1/2 hours.
• cool in pan on rack.
• or bake at 300 degrees until done,about 1 1/2 hours, or until it shrinks from the pan.
• This cake can be frozen, it makes just a little less than 5 pounds, No liquid other than the flavorings is needed.

CHRISTMAS WHITE FRUIT CAKE

Steps:

• Stir some flour into fruit mixture so it doesn't stick together. I use a little (like a tablespoon from the 2 1/4 cups for the cake).
• Cream the butter, sugar and eggs.
• Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the creamed ingredients.
• Stir in the fruit and nuts (I usually omit the nuts) and add more fruit to make up the volume.
• Bake in a 300oF oven for an hour, but check the cake for doneness with a wooden tooth pick to make sure it is cooked.
• My mother's only directions are: bake at 300oF for a little longer than an hour and mix together like a cake.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST WHITE CHRISTMAS FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Place the orange peel, currants, raisins, cherries and chopped candied pineapple in a large bowl.
• Pour the orange juice over the fruit and let sit for 24 hours, mixing/tossing a couple times during the 24 hours period.
• Line bottom of one 9 x 5-inch AND two 3 x 8-inch loaf pans with parchment paper or two sheets of wax paper.
• Set oven to 275 degrees.
• Place a pan of cold water directly onto the bottom of your oven.
• In a large bowl cream butter with confectioners sugar until very smooth.
• Add in the egg yolks and almond or vanilla extract; beat until combined.
• Stir in the soaked fruit and the juice along with nuts.
• Using a wooden spoon stir in the flour.
• In a clean dry bowl beat the egg whites until firm peaks form; fold into the batter.
• Fill the large pan and the two smaller pans about two-thirds full.
• Bake for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until golden brown, the smaller pans will take less time to bake (or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle).
• Let cool in pans on a rack.
• Remove cakes from pan; peel of parchment.