Aged Fruitcake

This is the weight ratio. Adjust up and down depending on how many cakes and what size pan you are using. Cooking time will need to be adjusted as well.

I usually split this batter into two loaf pans and bake for around 90 min (45 min at 325, 45 min at 300)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups butter
• 1.5 cups brown sugar blend
• 4 extra large eggs
• 4.5 Tbsp rum/brandy
• zest of 2 lemons
• zest and juice of 1 grapefruit (only need around 1/2 cup of the juice), or around 1.5 oranges
• 100 grams almond flour
• 390 grams flour (3 cups)
• 1/4+ tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 5/4 tsp mixed spice
• 1 Tbsp black treacle
• 150 grams nuts
• 510 grams raisins, sultanas, currants, and cranberries
• 1020 grams dates, figs, dried sour cherries and sweet cherries
• 1.5 tsp baking powder

Procedure:

1. Prep ingredients: weigh and chop all dried fruits and nuts, zest and juice citrus, make almond flour etc.
2. Prep your pans; butter and line with parchment paper.
3. Mix dry ingredients and zest together.
4. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars till fluffy. Add eggs, beat again. Add juice and booze. (batter will separate, doesn't matter).
5. Add almond meal, fruits and nuts. Mix.
6. Add flour and mix. Very thick.
7. Split between pans and smooth top (try to remove *all* air bubbles!).
8. Bake (325F for 45 min, then 300F for 45-60min until toothpick clean). This cake is dry when it comes out of the oven and not that good! Keep an eye on the top to make sure it doesn't brown too much; if it does, cover with aluminum foil and keep baking.
9. Remove from pan and let cool completely undisturbed.

Feeding:

1. Once *completely* cool, use a skewer to poke holes all over the top of the cake. These holes should be evenly distributed, dense (around 1 cm apart), and almost all the way to the bottom of the cake but doesn't go all the way through (leave around 1-2 cm in the bottom)
2. Feed the cakes with 1-2 Tbsp of rum/brandy/your liquor of choice. I use a dropper to dose the entire cake evenly.
3. Wrap the cakes: I use one layer of saran wrap, and then a layer of aluminum foil. Then I put the entire thing in an airtight bag or container.
4. Feed every few days at the beginning, then every couple of weeks. The alcohol should be allowed to mostly evaporate between feedings. The cake should not be alcohol-logged ever. Make sure you keep things clean for feedings. Wrap up tightly between each feeding.
5. Age the fruitcake for at least 2 months before eating. After around 2-3 weeks, it will start to smell totally delicious. After 4-6 months, the feedings can be very infrequent (once a month or even less). The cake remains stable and delicious for a loooong time.