A HARTE APPETITE: FRUITCAKES SHOW LASTING APPEAL DURING HOLIDAYS

The late humorist Erma Bombeck used to maintain that there were actually only four or five fruitcakes in the world and that they made the rounds during the holidays like, she said, a chain letter. "If you don't give away your fruitcake before the year is up," she warned, "something terrible will happen to you."

This theory that the majority of fruitcakes given as Christmas gifts are handed down from year to year is made not entirely implausible by the fact that fruitcake does keep well and even improves with age. As Rombauer and Becker point out in the venerable Joy of Cooking, when properly doused with liquor, buried in powdered sugar, and tightly sealed in tins, fruitcakes have been known to last for as long as 25 years!

Moreover, because fruitcakes are so dense that a little goes a long way, even when opened and eaten they often seem to take forever to consume. Thus, a few years ago, Gourmet Magazine concluded its December issue with an article entitled "Recycling Fruitcake." Among their suggestions were fruitcake souffles, fruitcake and ice cream terrine, chocolate covered fruitcake balls, pork chops with fruitcake stuffing, and fruitcake trifle.

Clearly, as demonstrated by comments like Bombeck's and recipes like Gourmet's, fruitcake is a much maligned food. The etiquette czar Miss Manners even offers advice on how to politely discourage a relative from bringing you a fruitcake for the holidays.

But this wary attitude toward fruitcake is unwarranted, I believe. Granted, as Rose Levy Beranbaum points out in The Cake Bible, "Fruitcake is one of the most personal cakes." People either love it or hate it, and even those who love it disagree over whether it should contain more fruit than cake or vice versa. (No wonder, then, that the Pentagon's guidelines for procuring fruitcake run to 14 pages!)

But I suspect that fruitcake's tarnished reputation stems from the fact that too many people know only inferior versions of this traditional confection, versions made with skimpy amounts of fruits and nuts or, worse yet, mediocre cake batter. Good fruitcake, after all, has a noble heritage. For example, Dundee cake, the rich Scottish fruitcake, was a favorite of Mary Queen of Scots. And if there were no such thing as a good fruitcake, how could the Collin Street Bakery of Corsicana, Texas, the nation's largest purveyor of fruitcake, manage to sell over 1.5 million of them (all new, none recycled) this year?

So perhaps it's time to give fruitcake another chance. And herewith are some recipes which you just might find redeeming. The first is for a fruitcake which has proved itself a winner for over 50 years, the second for the kind of fruitcake that is practically all fruit and nuts, the third for one that is more cakelike, and the fourth for one that, with the addition of chocolate, elevates classic fruitcake to a new dimension. I think I can safely predict that if you make one of these recipes you will produce a fruitcake that will not become the object of jokes or be passed on to someone else, but a fruitcake that will be truly enjoyed and appreciated.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick's Fruitcake

Adelaide Heyde Parsons of Southeast Missouri State University shares this recipe for a fruitcake her grandmother, a widow with two young children, used to make to sell at Vandeven's Grocery Store during the depression. She says that since Prohibition was also in force at that time, her grandmother would manage to get a "prescription" from the doctor for the whiskey. Adelaide credits the cake with helping to lure a marriage proposal from her husband, Bob, owner of Parsons' Stained Glass in Downtown Cape. "I first learned to make this cake when I was dating Bob," she says. "He loves fruitcake and my mother was hoping that a surprise homemade fruitcake would assist me in getting a proposal from him. It may have, since he proposed soon after the Christmas holiday!"

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups flour

2/3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 3/4 cups raisins

3/4 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup fruitcake mix

3/4 cup dried figs

1 1/3 cups pecans, chopped

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup whiskey or brandy

Directions:

Cream sugar and butter, add eggs and beat until fluffy. Sift together flour, nutmeg, and baking powder and add gradually. Batter will be quite thick. Add whiskey, then fold in fruits and nuts. Transfer batter to greased and floured 9-x-5-x-3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until light golden color. Do not overbake. Cool thoroughly, baste with brandy, and wrap in cheesecloth or waxed paper. Place in tin. Baste once a week and let ripen for up to one month.

Mixed Nut Fruitcake

This fruitcake has been the favorite of my father, a true fruitcake aficionado, ever since I first found it 16 years ago in Good Housekeeping magazine. It's mostly fruit and nuts with just enough cake to hold it together. Though, perhaps, a bit on the extravagant side, it is easy to make.

Ingredients:

2 containers (6-8 oz.) candied red cherries

1 package (12 oz.) pitted prunes

1 container (10 oz.) pitted dates

1 container (3-4 oz.) candied green cherries

1/2 cup cream sherry

2 cans (12 oz.) salted mixed nuts

1 can (6 oz.) pecans

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 eggs, slightly beaten

Directions:

In large bowl combine first five ingredients; let stand 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, line 10-inch tube pan with foil; press out wrinkles as much as possible. Stir mixed nuts and pecans into fruit mixture. Remove 1 1/2 cups mixture and set aside. Stir flour, sugar, and baking powder into remaining fruit and nut mixture until well coated. Stir in eggs until well mixed. Spoon batter into prepared pan, packing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Sprinkle reserved fruit and nut mixture on top. Cover pan loosely with foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours. Remove foil and bake 1/2 hour longer or until knife inserted into center of cake comes out clean and top of cake is lightly browned. Cool cake in pan on wire rack 30 minutes. Remove from pan and carefully peel off foil. Cool cake completely, wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Rose's Less Fruity Fruitcake Cupcakes

This recipe from noted food writer Rose Levy Beranbaum emphasizes the cake in the word fruitcake. And no ordinary cake it is. It's moist and almost pudding-like. Baking the batter in muffin tins means no ripening is required. The cakes can be eaten right from the pan. For an especially attractive presentation, use mini Bundt-style pans.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup small mixed candied fruit

2 tablespoons candied citron

1/4 cup dried currants

1/4 cup broken pecans

1/2 cup Meyers' dark rum

1/2 cup unsifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, softened

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

At least 24 hours ahead, mince the candied fruit and citron and soak with the currants and nuts in 1/4 cup rum. Cover and store at room temperature. Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to combine. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and then the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the molasses and milk. Add the candied fruit mixture with the soaking rum and beat until blended. The batter will be slightly curdled but this will not affect cake texture. Fill greased and floured muffin tins 3/4 full with batter and bake 20 minutes at 325 degrees until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle each cupcake with one teaspoon rum, unmold after five minutes, and store airtight at room temperature for up to six weeks. Makes 11 cupcakes.

Bittersweet Chocolate Fruitcake Torte

This is not your ordinary fruitcake, but a fruit and nut filled torte glazed with chocolate that makes a spectacular Christmas dessert. The recipe first appeared almost a decade ago in Bon Appetit magazine.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

1/2 cup dried Calimyrna figs, chopped

1/2 cup candied cherries

1/3 cup currants or raisins

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons bourbon

1 1/2 cups whole almonds

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup flour

pinch of salt

16 ounces semisweet (not unsweetened) chocolate, divided

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 teaspoons whipping cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Combine first four ingredients and 1/2 cup bourbon and let stand two hours or overnight. Butter 10-inch springform pan with 3-inch sides, sprinkle with sugar, and tap out excess. Finely grind almonds and set aside. Melt 8 ounces chocolate. Cream butter and one cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in flour and salt. Add melted chocolate, then fruit mixture, ground almonds, and hazelnuts. Mix well. Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter in two additions. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and bake at 325 degrees until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 70 minutes. Cool on rack 20 minutes. Brush fruitcake with remaining 2 tablespoons bourbon. Cool. Release pan sides. Remove bottom and sides of pan from fruitcake. Wrap tightly in plastic, then in foil. Refrigerate overnight. (Can be made one week ahead.) To glaze, chop remaining 8 ounces chocolate. Bring 1/2 cup cream to boil, remove from heat, and add chocolate. Whisk until smooth and melted. Let stand 15 minutes until warm to touch. Meanwhile, whisk powdered sugar and remaining cream in small bowl until smooth. Set rack over rimmed cookie sheet and place fruitcake on rack flat side up. Spoon glaze over sides and top of fruitcake and smooth with spatula. Pour white icing into parchment cone and cut off tip to form small opening. Pipe even spiral of icing atop torte, spacing lines about 3/4-inch apart. Draw sharp knife from center of torte to edge to create spider web design dividing torte into eight even sections. Refrigerate torte until glaze is set. Serve at room temperature.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? Are you looking for a recipe for something in particular? Send your recipes and requests to The Harte Appetite, c/o Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and writes a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.