FRUITCAKE NIRVANA

This is it. Fruitcake weather. It’s nippy outside, even in South Florida the temperatures have dipped down into the fifties at night… Christmas has arrived….and the wait is over!(Drum roll, please!) The food memory? Well, imagine a little girl with 2 pigtails and a curly headed little boy (my brother Bill) ready for the long trip huddled together (both with feet dangling from the same seat) on a Greyhound bus with my Great-Grandmama Emma, (our chaperone) to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The bus driver calls out the cities, ” Jacksonville, Macon, Atlanta, Chattanooga and all points northeast…” with that our bus backed out and headed towards I- 95, then on to I- 75. Meanwhile me and Billy with our array of coloring crayons colored in our coloring books sit quietly engaged in drawing and playing–Billy, with his tiny toy trucks, and me with my paper doll books (remember those?) anxiously waiting for the veritable feast of fried chicken, deviled eggs, and Christmas cookies in tins. But, the most anticipated thing was wrapped in layers of foil in a special cake tin—fruitcake! Ahhhhh!

With that memory….all I can say is….I’ve never forgotten the contented feeling of looking through the frosty window on the bus, perfumed with the best fried chicken and fruitcake ever made… and I can still see Grandma Emma’s smile as she gave us the smallest piece of soaked rum fruitcake…It was a satisfying smile of the greatness of that  hidden treasure like finding some forbidden jewel with its sweet cherries, nuts, and spices. The time involved in its preparation…the waiting for days, weeks, and months until the cake (marinating in liqueurs) adding to our anticipation and culminating in that tiny slice of goodness. The bottom line? This memory sealed my fate (and my brother’s) as lovers of fruitcake–forever, without regrets!

So, does my son like fruitcake? Of course.  The memory’s different but, the anticipation is the same. My mother loves fruitcake, too. It’s her favorite cake….and we’ve got hers packed and ready to go…Fruitcake’s the reason why I’m up late tonight…Nick’s had enough of reminding me whether I’ve spritzed the cake. All anticipation crescendos to an inevitable question, “Mom, do you think it’s ready, yet? Then, “can we cut it now?” Then finally, “are you sure?” My answer?… “Yes, it’s ready!”

Welcome to the holidays, y’all. It’s fruitcake time! This one is my best one yet (I say that every year)…Nick’s response? “It’s real good, Mom… He’s said that several times while eating it…My response? Grandma’s same smile of satisfaction…

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Cheryl’s Butter Bakes fruitcake 2018. Full of my own candied cherries, pineapples, ginger, apricots, raisins, walnuts, and pecans. Soaked with bourbon and dark rum….I just love this time of year. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

A Promise Kept

Fruitcake is a special cake in my family. I don’t know why other people don’t like it except, well, maybe, they’ve had some awful tasting fruitcake in their day. I grew up with a great grandmother who made delicious fruitcakes! Despite it being soaked in wine and rum, as children we couldn’t wait for her to unwrap the foil paper and slice us a piece of the fruitcake filled with cherries and nuts!

Now, as a teacher, it’s an endeavor to tackle making a fruitcake because it’s so labor intensive. It exhausts me so much that I take a break every few years before making it again. There’s a lot of preparation such as buying all the nuts, fruits, then prepping them, etc. I mean you really have to want fruitcake to make it. And it’s expensive to make but, this year I bought a dehydrator and processed my own fruit then  I glazed it! I was able to catch a sale on canned pineapples (name-brand only, please) so, that made it cheaper. And I don’t like other strange fruits in my fruitcake, like blueberries. Who came up with the idea of blueberries in a fruitcake? I’m sorry, I like blueberries but, no blueberries in my fruitcake– just pineapples, candied ginger, Maraschino cherries, walnuts and pecans in mine. That’s it.

So, it’s been a few years since I made one but, at my brother’s insistence (who lived in Houston, Texas) he’d put a “bug in my ear” earlier this year to make him a fruitcake. However, he died in late October of a brain aneurysm. His unexpected death has reeled this family. I really am trying to find my Christmas spirit (now more than ever). I had been gathering up walnuts, and pecans worse than some old squirrel getting ready for winter but, I wouldn’t announce to anyone that I was going to actually make fruitcake (just in case I had a change of heart). Folks in this family salivate at the thought of fruitcake. They make hints like, “I sure do love a good fruitcake” or “my favorite cake is a fruitcake.” When I’d hear such comments I’d just acknowledge them with my silence. As a baker I’m going over the recipe in my head and each time I’m thinking whether I have enough rum or butter just in case but, all the time I was getting myself ready to make fruitcake. I mean can I really do this, now, after everything?

I’ll admit I’ve spent a lot of time rationalizing. For example, we administered midterms this past Friday (2 days before Christmas) and I really should have baked this cake back in October but, during that time the family was dealing with Bill’s death with two memorial services in 2 different states. The last thing on my mind was fruitcake! The last cake I’d baked for my brother was a fruitcake. I’d shipped it to him and it was lost in the mail. My fantastic fruitcake –lost in the mail. Well, after 4 months I traced it. It was sitting on a shelf in some local mail room in some small town on the outskirts of Houston, Texas! They returned it to me and it was stale because you have to soak or spritz it with wine, rum or brandy. And then, fruitcake needs the time to mature and settle after it’s baked. Macerating the fruits adds depth of flavor. Baking this cake now at Christmas wouldn’t allow for any flavor intensity to develop. I’d wavered the points until finally, the truth is I needed to make this cake now, more than ever. Not for its potential but, I needed to focus on something other than the loss of someone so close.

We were only 1 day shy of being a year apart in age (his birthday is the day before mine) and then 1 day out of the year we are the same age! It was a running joke between us. I promised him a fruitcake this year. Whether he’s physically present or not–this fruitcake is for Bill. Well, I got through it without any tears until I put the last of those glazed green cherries on the first cake (I actually made 3 cakes). When I finished decorating it I got it ready for it’s “beauty picture.” The photos were lovely. Even though it was 11 p.m. when I finished that first cake. I put a lovely red bow on the top of it just as if I were going to ship it to him. In my mind it was the cake I would have sent him. This was his fruitcake that he’d asked for way back in late spring of 2017 before I was even thinking about fruitcake–he was thinking about it.

As I snapped the photos of the cake and saw its glistening colors–I knew I’d made the right choice to make it regardless of circumstances–even Bill’s death. He would want me to do it and he would say something like, ” go on, Sis–make that cake, now.” His “now” wouldn’t have been a demand but, an urging to go ahead regardless. Make it. And so, I did–on Christmas Eve concentrating only on that task yet, holding back emotions until it was done. When I finished making all three cakes–it was as if I’d finished some overwhelming project. It was after all, just a cake, I know. But, to me, it was a promise kept. One of the last between this brother and sister. So, why bother making a fruitcake? Because, when you are grieving over the loss of your best friend–your brother, making a fruitcake will save you from thinking about your first Christmas without him.

My brother, Bill and me on summer vacation enjoying a slice of watermelon in Daytona Beach at Grandma and Granddaddy’s house.

COPYRIGHT © 2017 blog author Cheryl D. Sorrells–All rights reserved. No parts of this blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Cheryl D. Sorrells. Inquiries should be addressed to Cheryl D. Sorrells @ cheryl.bakes@yahoo.com

Wedding Cookies but No Wedding–No Problem!

I’ll be honest with you…wedding cookies weren’t on my horizon today but, it’s Christmas and not matter what–people get married around this time of year. Maybe, a wedding isn’t even a thought–so, why not make Kourabiedes Greek cookies? These have my own spin on them though. Made with my pure artisan vanilla extract and Amaretto liqueur. I had to kick them up with some sweet southern pecans and then some English walnuts in some. I am having one with some of my own apple wine. So, no wedding? No problem. If you’d like to place an order please let me know. We do ship.

“Time Out!” ….Finally!

 

Well, it’s finally here…..rush, rush, rush until “ah naw” the season is upon us….and whew…I’m too tired to let it all consume me…but, wait…time out! …what I’ve been waiting for is a moment of rest and relaxation…..despite cake orders….there’s got to be some time for relaxation…..isn’t that right?

This cake is a butter cake made with sour cream and a fresh pineapple filling, brown sugar and more butter. The frosting is whipped cream  and cream cheese which is so delicious that it’s off the charts amazing! I sprinkled some of my antique roses (Louis Philippe) on top with cherries. Now, it’s time to grab my coffee, take a few sips and relax….

COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Cheryl D. Sorrells–All rights reserved. No parts of this blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, Cheryl D. Sorrells. Inquiries should be addressed to Cheryl D. Sorrells @ cheryl.bakes@yahoo.com