Tutorial - Golden Fruitcake with Amaretto |
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Golden Fruitcake with Amaretto
Preparation for this classic English Christmas white fruitcake can be considered basic for the preparation of many German style cakes. The batter is very thick and should drop heavily from the spoon. (German cakes are more a thin dough than can be called batter.) Fruitcakes have very little baking powder or other leavening agent compared to most cake. This would make the cake lighter in consistency and it would not be able to support the amount of dried fruit. These cakes are baked with a medium low temperature for a longer than normal baking time. They typically are quite brown so that when sliced, one can see a good half centimeter crust.
My variation is the addition of 100 g. of ground almond and I soak the fruit for several hours in the Amaretto, even overnight if you like. The fruit absorbs it, offering a little extra delight when enjoying this cake and biting into the fruit. Drain before using for the recipe. And I use Amaretto instead of water to make the icing. The photo shows Amaretto separate in a glass, following the original recipe of adding it to the dough. Doing it my way by soaking the fruit in the Amaretto, I add only a little more amaretto to the dough, enough to give it the proper consistency mentioned above.
I have converted this recipe from metrics to the awkward cup measures, rounding the conversion to reflect usual measurements such as 1 c., 2/4 c. etc. Using a scale to measure ingredients is not only quicker, consistently more accurate but neater too (less clean up). In my new ebook Gourmet Chocolate Cakes & Co. you will see a detailed pictorial step-by-step guide for typical European style cakes. Click here for information!
(T.= tablespoon, t. = teaspoon)
Ingredients:
200 g. (3/4 c.) cold butter, chopped*
225g. (1 c.) fine sugar (castor sugar)
3 eggs, room temperature
200 g. (1 c.) fruit mince (mixed dried fruit - look for the kind that is not mostly raisins)
100 g. (2/3 c.) blanched almonds, halved
85 g. (1/3 c.) red maraschino cherries, quartered
85 g. (1/3 c.) green maraschino cherries, quartered
225 g. (1-1/2c.) plain flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
good pinch of salt (+- 1/8 t.)
60 ml. (1/4 c.) Amaretto liqueur (poss. a little more)
optional: 100 g. ground almonds
For the icing:
At least 150 g. (1c.) icing sugar for the icing (powdered sugar) a little more Amaretto and a small knob of butter (like a small walnut), melted.
* I find using room temp. butter that is firm but not hard is just as good. The point is to have the butter in little pieces first, (then allow to come to room temperature) which ultimately make 'creaming' with the sugar easier.
Preparation:
Soak the fruit in the Amaretto for several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° F. (180° C)
Butter the loaf form generously ( approximately 25x11.5x7.5 cm or 10x4.5x3 in. deep), drop in +- 1 T. flour and tilt the pan so that all sides are coated. Tap out excess and set aside. (Use softened butter and a paper towel or brush for this.) If you use margarine in place of the butter, do be sure that it is the kind of margarine that can be used for baking. It will state so on the package.
Steps:
1. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. If you have it, use the dough hook to 'knead' the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Change to the normal beaters and continue to beat, adding the sugar in a steady stream until the mass is light and fluffy.
(Hand method: in a large bowl, place the sugar and the butter. Now you must 'cream' it. Use a wooden spoon and keep mashing the butter into the sugar until it is a consistent mass. This is best done sitting with the bowl in your lap. The butter will soften and the sugar will begin to dissolve. This is easier using the fine sugar rather than the granulated.)
2. Add each room temperature egg separately and beat well (a few minutes) until the mass is smooth before adding the next egg.
(Hand method: Add each room temperature egg separately and work it well into the butter mass until smooth before adding the next egg. Using a spoon or try a hand egg beater, beat until the sugar is dissolved. An immersion blender does it in seconds. See photo 1)
3. In another bowl, place the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well with a fork to insure even distribution. Add the ground almond, if using and mix again. (Sifting is not necessary for this recipe.)
4. Add the maraschino cherries and the halved almonds to the mixed fruit and toss well. Add a few tablespoons of flour to the fruit and toss again to coat the fruit. This helps prevent it from settling while the cake is baking. Set aside.
5. Add about a fourth of the flour to the egg/butter mass and stir until all is incorporated. Continue adding several tablespoons at a time and mixing well before adding more. Beat with a spoon until smooth. (An immersion blender does this in seconds.) Add the fruit and use a spatula to distribute all evenly, lifting the dough from the bottom of the bowl with a down-up-and over motion. It will be a very thick mass.
6. Again using the spatula, drop into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth with the spatula. Set in the middle of a preheated oven and bake for approx. 1-1/2 hrs. or until a toothpick inserted deeply into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15-20 min. before tipping out on to a cooling rack for further cooling. (Or tip out onto one of the wire baking racks from the oven that is resting on a few food tins etc. to allow air to circulate from under.) See photo 2.
Icing: see photo 3
Place the icing sugar into a medium sized bowl and add a few tablespoons of Amaretto. Use a wooden spoon to work it into the sugar. Add the melted butter. Beat until smooth. If it is very thick, keep adding a little more Amaretto until the consistency is very thick and falls very slowly and thickly from a tilted spoon. If you think it is almost right but too thick still, add a few DROPS of water and keep beating (have the bowl in your lap). It is easy to make icing too thin. If this happens, just add a little more powdered sugar.
When the cake is rather cooled but still very slightly warm, work quickly and pour the whole amount of the icing onto the top of the cake, working lengthwise. Encourage some of it to flow down the sides.
Depending on butter content and humidity in the air, in a few hours, the icing will be rather set but not hard. At this point you can decorate with candied fruit, or create a swirl design on the top if you like. (Waiting until the icing is rather set insures that the decorations will not sink in or that the design will not 'disappear' because the icing is too soft.) Cover loosely with foil so as not to touch the icing. Keep the ends of the foil open so that the air can circulate and it can dry better. This cake is usually made a good 5 days to a week in advance. When it is too fresh, it is difficult to cut as it is still too moist. It must dry out a little first. But it is your cake, do what you like!! Waiting for at least a few days, develops the flavour also. In any case, this is a very moist cake.
note to equipment: rubber spatula (plastic is cheaper but too stiff and inefficient), 2 med. bowls wooden spoon, immersion blender or your egg beater, loaf form.
photo 1, clockwise: maraschino cherries, Amaretto, mixed fruit, halved almonds, egg/butter mass, flour etc. with ground almond on top, loaf form
photo 2 The loaf pan must be filled to no more than 3/4 full.
Photo 3. Violá! Zee cake, she is done!
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