Stigmatized by the persistent myth that “There was only one fruitcake ever made and it just keeps getting passed around from one person to another!”, the reputation of this classic holiday dessert has become somewhat tainted.

It is hard to define just what “fruitcake” is. This mysterious confection has been around in one guise or another since ancient Roman times. The baking of special celebration breads with added fruits, seeds and nuts, often fortified with brandy or other spirits, continues worldwide as a food tradition handed down and redefined by each cuisine culture.

Each distinctively different fruitcake is associated with festivities and holiday tradition—from the Italian panforte, a heavy fruitcake which is said to have traveled in saddlebags into the crusades of the Middle Ages; to the 15th-century English frumenty, a sort of steamed porridge with fruit; to the dark and dense German kuchen; to an Irish version laced with Guinness beer.

The popular American version using glazed fruits usually includes candied red and green cherries, pineapples, citron, raisins and pecans, walnuts or almonds, and is spiced with ginger, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom, mace or cloves—with just enough batter to hold it all together.

Fruitcake is best made in advance, and then aged with the addition of brandy, rum or bourbon. The baked cake is wrapped in cheesecloth, saturated in spirits and kept in a dry, cool place. Thus fortified, your fruitcake will last for months, all the while improving in flavor.

My promise to you is that, once tasted, each of the following three versions of fruitcake will quickly disappear. They will not get passed around, just to end up as stale doorstops!

TRADITIONAL MINI-FRUITCAKES

One taste of these jewels is like biting into a memory; all the flavors of the season are packed into each bite-sized bit.

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 1/2 cups seeded raisins
1/3 cup cream sherry
1 cup candied pineapple
2 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 1/2 cups candied cherries
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and spices. Soak raisins in sherry and plump in microwave for 30 seconds. Drain and reserve sherry, setting aside raisins. Cut pineapple and dates into small pieces and cut cherries in half. Add all fruit to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the combined flour and spice mixture over fruit, tossing to completely coat. Incorporate vanilla into beaten eggs, and then pour over fruit and flour, mixing until batter is thoroughly moistened. Sprinkle sherry over batter and mix until thoroughly blended. Using mini-muffin tins, spray inside of tins with non-stick baker’s spray. Fill tins three-quarters full with mixture. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°. Yields 3 dozen fruitcakes.

For added flavor, fortify with your favorite spirits. Remove fruitcakes from the muffin tins to a wire rack over a pan. Let cool, and then drizzle 1 cup of liquor over all. Allow to drain thoroughly, and then pack in a dry, cool place. Individual fruitcakes can also be frozen until needed.

CREOLE WHITE FRUITCAKE

One of the lesser-known wedding traditions handed down from our French Creole ancestry was to top the bride’s cake with a white fruitcake. As a symbol of fertility, this top tier was kept until the couple’s first christening or first anniversary, whichever came first. The white fruitcake was also popular as a Christmas dessert favorite because of its delicate flavor.

1 cup sweet white wine, white rum or Amaretto liqueur
2 1/2 cups golden raisins
1/2 cup candied citron, chopped fine
2 cups candied pineapple, chopped medium
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups sliced almonds
6 egg whites (large eggs)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 cup ground almonds

Soak fruit in wine, rum or Amaretto for 30 minutes. Drain; set fruit aside, reserving liquid. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy and light cream color. Add almond extract to creamed butter. Add baking powder to sifted flour. Gradually fold flour mixture into batter, mixing until fully incorporated. Add reserved liquid to the batter. Add fruit to the batter, and then add almonds and coconut, folding gently. Beat egg whites with cream of tarter to a soft peak stage. Add ground almonds. Fold egg whites into batter until fully incorporated.

Prepare a tube pan for baking by coating inside with butter, then lightly dusting with flour. Fill pan with batter and lightly cover the top with aluminum foil, preferably non-stick. Place filled tube pan inside a larger baking pan filled to 3 inches with warm water. Steam fruitcake in a 275° oven for 1 hour. Remove the tube pan from water bath.

Reset oven to 325°. Return pan to oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and place on a baking rack, allowing cake to cool thoroughly before removing from pan.

FRUITCAKE COOKIES

Deliciously dense, the crunchiness of these crisp cookies combines with the moist flavors of the glazed fruit. For Christmas, decorate the top of each cookie before baking with red and green cut fruit.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup mixed candied fruit, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup candied pineapple, chopped
Powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°. Beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk and orange juice until well blended. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda and salt, and then add to batter. Stir in walnuts, mixed fruit, raisins and pineapple.

Onto a non-stick or greased cookie sheet, drop one rounded tablespoon of batter for each cookie, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until cookies are slightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar. Yield 2 1/2 dozen.