I’m so happy to be baking through Rose Levy Beranbaum’s newest cookbook, The Baking Bible. I love reconnecting with old friends from our last bake along and getting to know the new bloggers who have joined Rose’s Alpha Bakers. I missed the inagural post, Kouign Amann, but you can bet this will be the recipe I’m doing when we have a catch up week. You can check out Marie’s weekly round up on Kouign Amann here. In our second week, we’re on to a dried fruit cake.
If you’re American, you can forget everything you know about “fruitcake.” If you’re not American, you might not understand the many jokes we have about fruitcakes. The brick-like Christmas gift that is sure to be regifted. This full of flavor cake bears no similarity to something you might see at the dollar store in December
The cake batter, which is flavored with a wonderfully dark Muscavdo sugar, ย is just enough to holdย together the apples, dried fruits and nuts. Gone are the green maraschino cherries, the glaceed fruit. This cake is chocked full of real fruit (fresh and dried) and toasted nuts.
I like the fact that the recipe leaves the combination of dried fruits up to the baker. My choices were limited, but I went with dates, apricots, and cranberries — an unusual soudning combination, but delicious nevertheless! Pecans are scarce here in Poland, so I had to use walnuts. I also substituted brandy for the rum becuase I’m trying to empty the liquer cabinet before we move rather than fill it up. The flavor was still wonderful!
As Rose’s cakes go, this one was quick and easy:
- toast the nuts
- soak the dried fruit
- prepare the apples
- stir together the batter
- bake
- douse with rum (optional)
I baked this cake in a springform pan wrapped with insulating strips for the longer of the recommended times. A cake tester came out clean, but as it cooled, I had a three inch circle in the middle that sunk in about 1/2 an inch. I found out why when I turned the cake over to brush it with brandy, the center was not fully cooked. I popped it back in the oven for another 10 – 15 minutes. Even though it is much darker in my final sequense photo, it didn’t feel or taste “over baked.”
The friends we shared the cake with raved about it. I’ll be making another one for our family at Christmas. Ed suggested adding a Polish favorite, Ajerkoniak, to serve with the fruit cake, and I think that’s a great idea!
As one of Rose’s Alpha Bakers, I don’t share the recipe as I do in most of my blog post, but you can find The Baking Bible in bookstores or on Amazon.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznaล, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com,ย she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Kimberlie Robert
I don’t know how many times I’ve under baked a cake and put it back in the oven. Luckily, this cake is very forgiving and can tolerate it! All is well that ends well. Your pictures are really good. Unfortunately, I’m not an alpha baker yet, just an alternate, but Marie invited me to bake along just the same. So I’m posting my experiences on my blog at http://www.thefinercookie.com. Anyway, I look forward to the adventure.
polishhousewife
Thanks for stopping by to comment, Kimberlie! You’re so right, forgiving is the right word for this cake! I’ll be sure to follow your results with the recipes. Glad to have you baking along with us, even if as an alternate for now. ๐
Michele Simons
I love the look of the tall, round cake baked in the springform pan. Glad to know that it ended well! I’m so happy to be part of the Alpha Bakers. If you have a chance, stop by my blog at http://www.artfuloven.com and see my buttery rum sauce to accompany the cake. Bake on!
polishhousewife
Thanks for stopping by Michele! Looking forward to the adventure in front of us!
Marie Wolf
Yes, this is definitely not a Dollar Store doorstop. I like the date and cranberry additions, and I think brandy would be at least as good as rum. Had I been thinking, I would have used one of the fruit liqueurs I bought for Heavenly Cakes and will probably not use up in my lifetime.
polishhousewife
Yep, Marie, I think a fruit liqueur would be very nice on this cake!
Rosa Maggie
Hello I’m Rosa Maggie , one of the new girls, nice pictures of the fruit cake and your step by step instructions.
polishhousewife
Hi, Rosa Maggie, thanks for stopping by and your kind words!
Rosa Maggie
I’m one of the new girls in the bake along, come and check out my new post.
faithy
Hi Lois! Thanks for posting on my blog! You are hilarious…when i saw his photo instead of yours, i was thinking, i know this guy he looks familiar but i can’t quite remember if he was in our Alpha group. LOL! I read you moved back to US! Must be missing Poland already. Your cake looks tall and pretty!
polishhousewife
We actually leave on Friday, Faithy. It’s a 24 hour trip, so I’m not looking forward to it the actual travel part of the journey.
Vicki B
Oh that sauce looks delicious! This was a fun cake to make.
polishhousewife
Yes, Vicki, we need to appreciate the quick and easy recipes when we find them! ๐
Patricia @ ButterYum
Lovely photos. Check out my post – I share a neat gadget that helps ensure the center of cakes bake through properly.
Patricia @ ButterYum
http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2014/11/6/tbb-english-dried-fruit-cake
polishhousewife
I needed that gadget big time! Thanks, Patricia. ๐
Nicola
Best of luck with the move… Back to the land of flour, pecans and countless types of sugar!
Good tip about whacking it back in the oven… I have always been hesitant to do that, but not now!
polishhousewife
Thanks, Nicola! You forgot my favorite baking trait of the US. land of the big oven! ๐
Whacking it back in the oven may not work in every case, but this cake seems to be forgiving.
Vicki B
I forgot to ask if you’re still calculating the WW points?
polishhousewife
I haven’t been doing WW for a while, but I’ve noticed that there are websites like this one where you can calculate points on your own:
http://www.calculatorcat.com/free_calculators/weight_watchers_calculator.phtml
Do we even want to think of points during a bake along? I’m starting to like the Swedish idea of Saturday Sweets, eat as much as you want but you only do it once a week.