Kicking off fruitcake season

Fruitcake has gotten a bad rap here in the US, becoming the butt of jokes and something to dread rather than celebrate. One big reason so many people say they hate fruitcake is because they have never tasted one that has been properly made. As Eater’s Dayna Evans explains, if you make fruitcake for yourself, you may come to appreciate its depth and nuance.

It is difficult to find fault with the individual components of fruitcake: dried fruits, nuts, sugar, flour, and booze. The key lies in putting them together in the correct proportion. The other critical items are baking it low and slow and being sure to give the cake a good long soak in its booze bath. Since time is a significant component of a well-made fruitcake, you need to start now for holiday eating and gift-giving.

According to Evans, making a traditional fruitcake is more than just plying a quick bread with booze. “The whole operation is exciting and fun and weird, and not unlike having a low-stakes pet,” she explains. Even better, the process is easy and requires only the most basic of baking skills. You don’t need to fuss with any tricky techniques, just a small amount of attention once a week until the cake is done.

If you aren’t into using a copious amount of brandy but want to enjoy the delicious combination of flavors, you don’t have to stick with traditional fruitcake such as the Gorgeously golden fruitcake from Nigella Christmas pictured above. German Stollen incorporates marzipan for a sweet and nutty flavor that also keeps the cake from drying out, and Italian panforte contains fruit, nuts, and spices and only a little flour. This results in a dense, chewy and spicy treat.