Snow Capped Fruitcake Food

SNOW-CAPPED FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-by-3-inch round cake pan, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. Stir flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and almonds in a medium bowl; set aside.
• Cook Armagnac and fruit in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid has absorbed, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool completely. Chop fruit into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside.
• Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in zest and ginger. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Transfer to a large bowl. Fold in flour-nut mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir in fruit.
• Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with only a few moist crumbs, about 1 hour 40 minutes. If cake browns too quickly during baking, loosely tent with foil. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool.
• Trim cake level with a serrated knife. Bring apricot jam and 1/4 cup water to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; strain into a small bowl. Lightly brush cake with the jam syrup.
• On a work surface lightly dusted with cornstarch, roll 2 pounds fondant to 1/4 inch thick, brushing off excess cornstarch as needed. Drape fondant over rolling pin; center and place on cake. Starting at top, smooth fondant onto cake with your hands. Trim with a pastry wheel.
• On a work surface lightly dusted with cornstarch, roll remaining 1/2 pound fondant to a scant 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 4 small, 4 medium, and 4 large snowflakes. Brush underside of each snowflake with a damp pastry brush, and gently press onto cake. Decorate snowflakes with royal icing.

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.

FRUITCAKE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; butter paper, and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, heat brandy until simmering. Remove from heat, and stir in fruit; cool to room temperature. Toss brandied fruit with 1 cup flour mixture; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in vanilla. With mixer on low, add remaining flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in fruit mixture; transfer batter to prepared pan, and smooth top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 1 hour. Using paper overhang, lift out of pan; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (still on paper). Invert fruitcake, and peel off paper; flip upright, and cut into 24 diamonds with a serrated knife. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

SUGARED FRUIT

Steps:

• Beat 4 egg whites (or more as needed; use powdered whites if concerned about consuming raw eggs) a few times with a fork. Brush apples and pears with whites and roll in sugar; shake off excess. Let dry on parchment-covered sheet pans.

SNOW-CAPPED FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325* F. Grease and flour an 8x3 inch round cake pan, tapping out excess flour.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and toasted almonds.
• Heat Armagnac and fruit in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid has been absorbed, about 15-18 minutes. Cool completely; chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
• Place butter and sugar into mixer bowl. Using paddle attachment, mix at medium speed until well creamed and fluffy.
• Add zest and ginger to creamed mixture and mix. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Fold flour mixture into egg mixture with a spatula. Stir in fruit.
• Spoon batter into pan. Bake at 350* F for about 1 hour 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. If cake browns too quickly, loosely cover with a foil tent to prevent over-browning. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
• Level cooled cake with a serrated knife or cake leveler. Combine jam and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Strain into a small heatproof bowl. Carefully brush cake with jam syrup.
• To make royal icing, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry--do not overbeat. Add sugar and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. If too thick, add more egg white; if too thin, add more sifted icing sugar. Royal icing may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
• On a flat, smooth surface lightly dusted with cornstarch, roll 2 pounds of the fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, brushing off excess cornstarch if needed. Drape fondant over rolling pin. Center over and carefully place on cake. Starting with top of cake, smooth fondant over cake with your hands, taking care to avoid air pockets; trim off excess at bottom with a pastry wheel.
• If needed, dust the same work surface with additional cornstarch. Roll out remaining 1/2 pound of fondant to not quite 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out four each small, medium, and large snowflakes with snowflake cookie cutters. Brush underside of each snowflake with a pastry brush lightly dampened with water and gently press onto cake. Decorate snowflakes as desired with royal icing.
• Cake may be stored tightly covered and at room temperature for up to 2 days.

ROYAL ICING FOR SNOW-CAPPED FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Put meringue powder, sugar, and 1/3 cupwater into the bowl of a mixer fitted withthe paddle attachment; mix on low speeduntil combined, about 7 minutes.

SNOW-CAPPED FAIRY CAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line 18 holes of a 2 x 12-hole bun tins with paper cake cases. Melt butter and cool for 5 mins, tip into a large bowl with all the cake ingredients, then beat together for 1-2 mins until smooth.
• Spoon the cake mixture into the cake cases, filling them three-quarters full (a heaped tablespoon is about right). Bake for 15-18 mins until lightly browned and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
• To make the icing, put the egg white and orange juice into a heatproof bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then set over a pan of simmering water. Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the icing for 7 mins until it is glossy and stands in soft peaks. Remove from the heat, then whisk for a further 2 mins until it is slightly cooled.
• Thinly slice the fruit jellies. Spoon the icing onto the cakes, swirling it with a knife, then decorate with slices of jelly fruits and a few silver balls. Leave to set. The cakes will keep for up to 3 days in the cake tin.

MOROCCAN FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine dried fruits. Pour tea over the top. Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight to plump and absorb tea.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment, leaving a 1 1/2-inch overhang on long sides.
• Sift flour, ras el hanout, and salt into a large bowl; add brown sugar. Stir in fruit mixture (including any liquid) and egg until combined. Batter should be a dropping consistency (if you pick up a spoonful, it should drop off easily). If it is too thick, add a little milk. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Slice cake and serve, spread generously with butter, if desired. Cake can be stored, well wrapped in plastic, at room temperature up to 3 days; toast slices before serving, if desired.