Most commercially-made fruitcakes
are alcohol-free, but traditionally, some fruitcake recipes included alcohol; both for the flavor and as a preservative. That way, fruitcake could be made months ahead of time for the Christmas holidays.
In the 1800s, wood burning stoves didn’t have temperature gauges, and oven temperatures varied based on the type and size wood used. You were supposed to learn how to determine the heat through experience. Some recipes ignored the oven temperature and others used terms such as a slow, moderate, or quick oven.
INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS.
Recipes in cookbooks published in the early to mid 1800s tended to be in narrative form, where in the latter 1800s, they often listed ingredients separately.
FRUIT CAKE
Rub one pound butter and one and one-half pounds sugar to a cream. Add eight eggs and beat. Now add one tablespoon lemon extract, one grated nutmeg, one tablespoon cinnamon, one-half teaspoon cloves, and one pint sour cream. Next, add four pounds raisins, one pound citron,* two pounds almonds, two pounds English walnuts, two pounds flour with two teaspoons soda in it, and one glass of jelly.
Bake three and one half hours in a moderate oven.* Pour one cup brandy over the top of cake after it is baked.
*citron –a large fruit similar to a lemon, but with flesh that is less acid and peels that are thicker and more fragrant. Citron is also the rind of the fruit preserved in sugar.
*moderate oven – about 350-400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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FRUIT CAKE No. 2
Stir four pounds of butter with five of sugar for twenty minutes. Beat forty eggs, the whites and yolks separate, and stir them into the butter and sugar.
Then add a tablespoon of cinnamon, the same quantity of rosewater, a teaspoon of essence of lemon, or three of orange flower water, half an ounce of allspice, the same of mace, and a teaspoon of cloves.
Stir in very gradually, five pounds of sifted flour. Mix three glasses of white wine, three of brandy, and two of milk. Stir it with the rest of the above ingredients for twenty minutes.
Now stir in three-fourths pound of blanched, dried and pounded almonds, four pounds of stoned raisins, five of Zante currants, and a pound of citron, cut in small pieces. The fruit should be stirred in gradually, a handful of each kind alternately. Bake it immediately in a moderate oven for about two hours and a half. This kind of cake will keep good four or five months.
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FRUIT CAKE No. 3
18 eggs.
11⁄2 pounds flour.
11⁄2 pounds sugar.
11⁄2 pounds butter.
2 pounds raisins.
2 pounds currants, washed and picked.
11⁄2 pounds citron.
2 nutmegs.
2 pounds almonds, weighed in shell.
2 tablespoonfuls cinnamon.
2 tablespoonfuls mace.
1 small teaspoonful cloves.
1 small teaspoonful salt.
2 teaspoonfuls ginger.
2 wine-glasses of wine.
1 wine-glass of brandy.
1 teaspoonful soda.
2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, in a cup of milk.
Let it rise about three hours, then bake slowly*, and let it stand in the oven a good while after it is baked.
*bake slowly probably refers to a slow oven,about 200-300 degrees Fahrenheit.
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A RICH FRUIT CAKE
Have the following articles prepared before you begin the cake: dry and sift four pounds of flour,
four pounds of butter with the salt washed out,
two pounds of loaf-sugar* pounded,
one ounce of nutmegs grated,
and an ounce of mace pounded.
Wash four pounds of currants, dry, pick, and rub them in flour. Stone* and cut two pounds of raisins, slice two pounds of citron, blanch a pound of sweet almonds, and cut them in very thin slices.
Break thirty eggs, separate the whites and yolks, and beat them till very light. Work the butter with your hand till it is soft as cream. Put in alternately the flour, sugar and eggs. When all are mixed in and the cake looks very light, add the spice, fruit, almonds, and half a pint of brandy.
Set it in a well heated oven to bake. When it has risen, and the top is beginning to brown, cover it with paper. Let it bake four hours, and when it is nearly cool, ice it. This will keep a long time in a stone pan, covered close.
*loaf sugar – sugar sold in a hard block, which has to be broken and then pounded into sugar granules.
*stone – to remove the stones of fruit, such as the seeds in raisins and plums. Raisins and prunes were sold with the seeds still inside.
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POOR MAN’S FRUIT CAKE
3-1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of New Orleans molasses
1 pound of seeded raisins
1 cup of sour milk*
1/2 cup of butter
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of soda
Cut the raisins into halves and flour them with four tablespoons of the flour. Dissolve the soda in a tablespoon of water, add it to the thick sour milk, and beat a minute. Add the molasses, beat again, add the butter, melted carefully, and stir in the flour. Add the spices and beat well, then stir in the raisins. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour.
When done, turn from the pan, baste with a syrup, made by boiling four tablespoons of sugar with three of water, and add two teaspoons of currant or grape jelly. Shut the cake in a tin box for a week or more. If made well, this is moist and rich at very little cost.
*sour milk – fresh whole milk that was left to ferment and sour by keeping it in a warm place for a day, often near a stove. Pasteurized milk may spoil rather than sour.
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WHITE FRUIT CAKE, commonly called the Bride’s Cake.
Cream together until frothy and like snow, eight ounces of creamery butter and two cups of sugar.
Then add, one at a time, six eggs.
Next, add:
Five cups of sifted flour,
Two level tablespoons baking powder,
One cup of seeded raisins,
One cup of currants,
One cup of finely chopped citron,
One and one-fourth cups of milk,
One cup of finely chopped nuts.
Beat to mix all together. Grease and flour a baking pan, then line it with greased and floured paper. Bake in a slow oven for one and one-half hours.
Image from Deposit Photos
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Available on Amazon.com
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When I was young, the fruitcakes my mother bought were in round tins. They had small, red, green, and yellow hard square pieces of something in them, which I didn’t like. I don’t know what they were, but I doubt they were actual fruit. I’ve since eaten homemade fruitcake, and liked it.
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