I made fourteen fruitcakes today – nine large and five small. Lots of fun! I used six kinds of candied citrus peels – bergamot, Seville orange, yuzu, citron, Meyer lemon, and Rangpur lime – plus the candied sweet cherries and candied sour cherries that I’d put up earlier in the year. I also discovered, poking around the garage, that I have an embarrassingly large collection of candied citrus already – in addition to the six varieties just mentioned, I also have candied grapefruit and lime peels, for a total of eight varieties. And I’m about to add blood orange peel to the mix, as the ninth variety. What can I say? I like candying citrus peels. And it makes great fruitcake!
The last batch of mixed citrus peel to reach the cutting board glowed so beautifully in the afternoon sun that I couldn’t resist taking a photo:
After about two hours of chopping, all 18 pounds of “goodies” were done:
(I put a stick of butter at the back of the photo (near the center, the silvery reflective rectangle) to give you an idea of the proportions. For reference, the heap of goodies is about 8 inches tall!)
Then it was just a matter of mixing up the batter (20 eggs, 8 cups flour, 18 oz pineapple juice, 2 lbs of butter, 4 cups sugar, plus baking powder and salt), pouring it over the yummy bits, and then mixing up by hand – literally! I didn’t quite get elbow-deep in the fruitcake batter, but I was in up to my (well-scrubbed) f0rearms as I mixed it about with my hands, feeling for any not-quite-even portions.
(The nice thing about being an adult is that one can play with one’s food and not have to worry about Mommy coming by to tell you not to! Although, in this particular case, Mommy actively encourages it – she likes fruitcake, too…)
Somewhere in between all that, B. and I managed to get the Fireside temple on the loom. I’m not sure if it’s going to work – currently it looks like the construction of the temple does not play nicely with a narrow X-frame loom. It goes on, but it looks like I’ll lose about 2″ total weaving width if I want to use it. On a 60″ loom, no big deal. On a 24″ loom, much bigger problem. I’m going to mess around a bit more, though, before deciding what to do.
I have also wound two more bouts of the new warp, and have calculated that it takes about 20 minutes to wind, tie off the cross, and beam on one 37-yard bout. So now I have twenty bouts left to go, or a bit under 7 hours. Since my time during the week is somewhat limited, and I have some other commitments to tend, I think my goal this week is to be 100% beamed-on by Friday, so I can start threading in earnest on Saturday. Ideally, I’d like to be weaving by next Monday, but that might be a bit ambitious.
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I would so love to be a mouse or extra person or something in your household, when you get going cooking. *drool* I love the sound of your fruitcake. The best one I ever tried was when I was in German Club back in the early 70’s and we sold fruitcake made in Texas, but I have no doubt yours would be superior.
Are these for Christmas? Do you really age them that long? And I thought I do well when I get them made in early November.
How do you age yours? I wrap mine in rum–soaked muslin.
I age mine for a minimum of three months, so this will be ready in November, when I’m visiting my family for the holidays. I sprinkle each fruitcake with liquor (Southern Comfort/Amaretto, whisky, or rum – haven’t settled on one yet), about a tablespoon per cake, once a week for eight weeks, then wrap tight in plastic wrap. After that, I sprinkle them once a month or so to refresh them, but they rarely last that long with B. in the house!
I think I know which fruitcakes you mean when you mention the ones “sold in Texas.” They are also chock full of pecans and super-delicious..but one look at the calorie count per miniscule serving is enough to give you serious indigestion for the balance of the season. (-; Still, they are GOOD. My Uncle used to send one to me every Xmas and I NEVER, EVER shared it!!!!!!
I was interested that you candied the peel of Rangpur limes. I just discovered them in the farmer’s market and made a couple of batches of marmalade. Delicious!
Here are mine waiting to go in the marmalade pot: http://lemonmarmalade805.blogspot.com/2011/07/rangpur-limes.html
Your chocolates sound wonderful, and I love the designs you have for them. FWIW, I think the gold would look beautiful on white chocolate, but on milk chocolate, not so much.
Let us know how the fruit cake comes out.
Keep us posted on how
Ooops. I lost the last few words of my post.
Last sentence should read, “Keep us posted on how the fruit cake turned out”.
I tried candying tangerine peels – – the one’s usually named “Cuties”. cut them in thin strips with scissors. absolutely wonderful with pecans (not mixed in with the tangerines, just put them together on a snack plate). didn’t try walnuts because I don’t particularly like them.