French Fruitcake

Welcome back!

Today, we have a recipe for fruitcake! Yes, it's a fruitcake, but it's not the classic American kind with the strangely colored fruits; this is actually what a fruitcake should be like - completely natural-looking, full of fruit, and delicious. If you're one of those fruitcake-haters (which is reasonable considering how weird they are), this recipe is certain to change your mind about the dessert!

French Fruitcake

Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1/4 cup sugar
10 grams honey
2 eggs
120 grams cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
200 grams mixed dried fruit (raisins, prunes, black currants, peach, apricot, cherry, etc.)
1/4 cup rum (or brandy/Grand Marnier)

Directions:

The day before, prepare your dried fruits by cutting the bigger pieces into even chunks and then soaking them in rum.
In a bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until it is fluffy and pale.
Add in the honey and mix it in.
Add in the eggs, one at a time, and mix evenly.
Sift the cake flour and baking powder into the batter and mix.
Add in the mixed dried fruits and the rum and mix evenly.
Pour the batter into a loaf tin.
Bake at 325°F for 40 minutes.

What's great about this dessert is that you can really use any mix of dried fruits that you have - we tend to always have a pretty wide assortment of dried fruit so we were able to fill this dish with all sorts of fun stuff! Traditional American fruitcakes also have a variety of spices, in particular cinnamon and nutmeg, that give it the Christmas vibe. It's not especially necessary because of the innate flavor of the fruit, but if you're going for that all-out holiday feast, you can add that in too!

-Chefpo

Comments

Banana Chiffon Cake

Welcome back! Today, we have another recipe for when you want to use some of your extra bananas! Unlike the Banana Bread from last time, this one is basically a chiffon cake that is modified to accommodate for the bananas. It keeps the really light and fluffy texture of the cake while also having the banana flavor, and it also goes nicely with other fresh fruit like shown below. Banana Chiffon Cake Makes one 9-10" pan Ingredients: For the egg yolk mixture: 7 egg yolks 2 tablespoons sugar 2 medium bananas 80 grams oil 90 grams orange juice 110 grams cake flour 10 grams corn starch 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda For the egg white mixture: 7 egg whites 110 more grams of sugar 1 teaspoon lime/lemon juice Directions: Mix the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Then, add oil and mix thoroughly. Then, add orange juice and mix. Then, add vanilla extract. Sift the flour along with the baking soda and baking powder and add it in the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold ...

Tiramisu

Welcome back to Chez Chefpo! Today, we've got a classic Italian dessert: Tiramisu! No twists on this one, this is your classic tiramisu that's about as traditional as it gets. In fact, it's truly comparable to the authentic tiramisu that you could find in Italy (more about this below)! While this is not the cheapest recipe, it is actually pretty easy and is definitely worth making because it is veramente delicioso! Tiramisu Makes one 7" by 9" pan Ingredients: Cream: 4 egg yolks 50 grams sugar 16 ounces Mascarpone cheese (preferably room temperature) 200 grams heavy whipping cream 2-3 tablespoons Kahlua* Coffee Mixture: 120 mL cooled espresso (if you don't have this, 2 tablespoons of espresso powder plus 120 mL of hot water will do) 2-3 tablespoons Kahlua* You will also need: 1 package, or about 24, lady fingers Cocoa powder to be dusted onto the top *If you don't have Kahlua, you can just use rum. Here's a reference for some of the more special ingre...

Tuscan Soup

Welcome back! Today, we have a delicious soup originating from Tuscany, Italy (this is the region where Florence is in). Traditionally, this dish is a combination of various vegetables with some Italian bacon and Tuscan bread. The one we made is more Americanized, featuring Italian sausage, and it's a little heartier. However, they are still pretty similar in the vegetables used: kale, potatoes, carrots, etc. Tuscan Soup Makes 4 servings Ingredients: 1/2 tablespoon olive oil 8 to 10 ounces Italian sausage 1 medium onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons flour 3 cups chicken broth 1 to 2 cups half & half 1 large potato, diced 1 medium carrot, diced 1/2 bunch kale, chopped Salt and pepper to taste Directions: Steam the potato and carrot and save it for later. With the olive oil in a pot, cook the Italian sausage until browned. Remove the sausage from the pot. Saute the onion and garlic in the pot. Add the flour into the pot and mix. Add in the chicken br...

Search This Blog