Christmas Cake

Just curious - does anyone still make Christmas Cake. My hubby loves the dark fruit cake so much so that he buys many of them during the season, sometimes 3 at a time. I also love the dark fruit cake.

Several years ago I made 3 large ones which he devoured quickly. They are a lot of work but certainly truly wonderful compared to anything you can buy. They are also expensive to make by the time one buys all the cherries, figs, nuts, etc.

I've promised him that when I retire I'll make him Christmas cake every year and put lots of figs in because he love the figs and most store-bought ones don't have the figs.

I've never even had Christmas cake

Originally Posted by Miss Mew

I've never even had Christmas cake

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Well, girl, you aren't that far away so if I ever get the get up and go to get up and make one, I'll bring some over if you supply the coffee.

Is Christmas cake a fruit cake?

Originally Posted by cococat

Is Christmas cake a fruit cake?

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Yes - they come in light and dark - we prefer the dark.

I love homemade fruit cake. The store bought ones normally don't even compare. I'm just too lazy to make them! My mom used to make a fruit cake and a Jewish apple cake every Christmas. I may just have to get off my butt and make both this year...I'm craving them now.

Green cherries and red and green pineapples really scare me for some reason, so I refuse to ever try a fruitcake. In fact, I once wrote an essay about my hatred/fear of them!

They probably actually taste pretty good, but there's just something about it that, I don't know, it's like a phobia almost. Unexplained and irrational, I know.

So, no, I don't make Christmas (fruit) cakes. Maybe I should make one someday to face and conquer my fear! Got any recipes?

Nope I dont like fruit cake so I dont even buy them nevermind make them, I do love making Christmas cookies though

The figs sound wonderful! I prefer my fruitcake without the green cherries, and with only a few red ones on top... but lots of pineapple and LOTS of PECANS!

But the real key to fruitcake is the rum. I'm not a drinker at all, but rum in cakes and bourbon in candies... I love that little edge!

Good fruit cake is nothing like the bricks that people think of as the running joke of the season. I think its the bitter bits of citron that turns people off in commercial cakes, it is just nasty to me too. Its bitter, it has a bad texture, It sould not be food.
Not gona lie even a good fruit cake could take down a 12 point buck at 50 feet if thown correctly, they are heavy. So is a cheese cake though. It's all good!

I have never actually eaten christmas cake before...almost for the same reason as DarkMavis...the colorful little bits kinda put be off. Kind of like that one lunchmeat that has i guess olives in it. The red and green bits just gross me out a bit.

Jewish apple cake is awesome though and i LOVE making christmas cookies!

Originally Posted by Trillcat

Good fruit cake is nothing like the bricks that people think of as the running joke of the season. I think its the bitter bits of citron that turns people off in commercial cakes, it is just nasty to me too. Its bitter, it has a bad texture, It sould not be food.
Not gona lie even a good fruit cake could take down a 12 point buck at 50 feet if thown correctly, they are heavy. So is a cheese cake though. It's all good!

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Too true! You remind me of the time my brother and his wife stayed at our place overnight in order to catch a flight early the next morning from Toronto. I made this lovely coffee cake that was quite "substantial" but delicious. He turned to his wife and told her not to have a second piece or they'd never get the plane off the ground.

The last time I made one was a good 10 years ago and the ingredients to make 3 cakes at that time cost me well over $70 from a bulk food store and that doesn't count the stuff I already had in the cupboard like the flour, spices, etc. so I can only imagine what it would cost today. But you are so right - those little bricks they sell in the stores are terrible.

Originally Posted by calico2222

I love homemade fruit cake. The store bought ones normally don't even compare. I'm just too lazy to make them!

My mom used to make a fruit cake and a Jewish apple cake every Christmas. I may just have to get off my butt and make both this year...I'm craving them now.

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I knew a Jewish lady once that made the most awesome apple cake every Christmas but refused to give up the recipe. If you have one you are willing to share, I would be eternally grateful!

We love fruit cake . My mother always made it. I am too lazy to make it.

I dont bake, not worth it...but I do like good fruitcake. I also like citron in the cake, as well as the too red cherries and other oddly coloured mixed fruit. What I DO NOT like are gumdrops in the cake (it ain't fruit people) and I detest raisins...don't like the taste or the texture of them.

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

So, no, I don't make Christmas (fruit) cakes. Maybe I should make one someday to face and conquer my fear! Got any recipes?

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The recipe I have makes 3 cakes, 1 very large, 1 medium and 1 smaller (think 3 springform pans that come in a set), could cost lots of money for ingredients, so I doubt you would want to make that much, especially if you aren't sure you'd like it.

My Dad used to make fruit cake every year. He preferred light, which always disappointed me, because his cake was really good, but I would have preferred dark. We did it together one year, after he came west, but that's the only time I've actually done it myself. The very best fruit cake I have EVEREVEREVEREVER had, bar none, including Dad's, was my Aunt Lil's. That was dark, and it was the richest, moistest, loveliest thing. I will forever kick myself for not getting her recipe while I could.

Originally Posted by rapunzel47

My Dad used to make fruit cake every year. He preferred light, which always disappointed me, because his cake was really good, but I would have preferred dark. We did it together one year, after he came west, but that's the only time I've actually done it myself. The very best fruit cake I have EVEREVEREVEREVER had, bar none, including Dad's, was my Aunt Lil's. That was dark, and it was the richest, moistest, loveliest thing. I will forever kick myself for not getting her recipe while I could.

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I will gladly share my rich, moist and lovely recipe with you. It's from my grandmom's time.

Originally Posted by sk_pacer

I dont bake, not worth it...but I do like good fruitcake. I also like citron in the cake, as well as the too red cherries and other oddly coloured mixed fruit. What I DO NOT like are gumdrops in the cake (it ain't fruit people) and I detest raisins...don't like the taste or the texture of them.

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That's not Christmas/fruit cake - that's gumdrop cake.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I knew a Jewish lady once that made the most awesome apple cake every Christmas but refused to give up the recipe. If you have one you are willing to share, I would be eternally grateful!

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If I can decipher my mom's handwriting, it's yours:

3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
juice of 1 orange (1/2 to 2/3 cups)
2 1/2 tsps vanilla
3 tsps baking powder
4 large apples peeled and sliced thin
2 tsps cinnamon & 5 tablespoons of sugar

Butter large tube pan. Set oven to 350

In large bowl beat flour, sugar, oil, eggs, salt, orange juice, vanilla and baking powder until smooth.

Mix together apples, cinnamon and sugar in small bowl.

Spread layer of batter in pan, then layer of apples. Repeat until ending with apples on top.

Bake at 350 for appx 1 hr, 45 mins. (check 1 hr 15 mins...from what I can remember, they sometimes seemed to take forever to cook then burn in 5 minutes).