By Kay Rentschler
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus 6 hours' macerating
- Rating
- 4(67)
- Notes
- Read community notes
I discovered that candied fruit likes getting soused with currants or dates, and that it isn't fussy about the medium: sherry, rum or Cognac all make it happy. And the trick to baking with it is simple: use the good stuff and use it judiciously. Fold just enough diced peel and choice cherries into a batter with chopped dates and spice and watch the tone and texture lighten up. No one would dream of calling this fruitcake.
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Ingredients
- 1½cups chopped pitted dates
- ¼cup chopped candied citron (more for decorating)
- ¼cup chopped candied orange peel (more for decorating)
- ¼cup chopped candied lemon peel (more for decorating)
- ¼cup candied cherries (more for decorating)
- ½cup hot brewed coffee, preferably espresso
- ¼cup Cognac
- 12tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature (more for greasing pan)
- 3cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½teaspoon ground mace
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛teaspoon ground cloves
- ½teaspoon salt
- 1teaspoon baking soda
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ½cup dark brown sugar
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2large eggs
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
291 calories; 10 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 26 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 193 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Combine dates and candied fruit in a small bowl; pour coffee and brandy over them, and stir to combine. Cover and macerate 6 hours or overnight.
Step
2
Place oven rack in lowest position and large roasting pan on rack. Fill pan halfway with hot water. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch tube pan. Stir flour, mace, cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking powder and soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Step
3
In mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 40 seconds. Scrape down bowl, add brown sugar, and beat until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Add eggs, beating well after each addition.
Step
4
With machine on low speed, add dry ingredients, and mix just to combine. Mix in dates, fruit and macerating liquid. Turn batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Bake in water bath until cake has risen and top is brown, about an hour. Remove cake from oven, cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes, turn out of pan right-side up onto rack and cool completely.
Step
5
Heat sugar with 1 tablespoon water to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer until syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Arrange slices of candied fruit on top of cake, and brush with syrup.
Ratings
4
out of 5
67
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
Peggy Herron
Just because they publish it doesn't mean it's a good reciepe . I always find the comment section very helpful when trying one of their reciepes. It's a lot of effort to make this fruitcake I haven't made it yet and am not going to until I see some comments .
cscott
Has anyone successfully made this? The NYTimes published this recipe years ago, calling it "Post Modern Fruitcake". I tried the recipe several times and was never thrilled with the result. And I found it takes way longer than 1 hour to bake. I half expected that this new version might correct a misprint in the previous one, but they're identical.
Julio
Why water bath? Why making it unnecessarily complicated?
Carol Bradford
OK, I made this. I added 1 cup of toasted pecan halves because I like them. I've made lots of fruitcakes and this one is tasty enough, But, despite the pan's being thoroughly buttered, the cake would not release and broke in half. I cannot give it to anybody and will have to eat it myself. There is a reason that fruitcake recipes almost always call for the pan to be lined with parchment paper. It also got over browned before it was completely cooked through.
cscott
Has anyone successfully made this? The NYTimes published this recipe years ago, calling it "Post Modern Fruitcake". I tried the recipe several times and was never thrilled with the result. And I found it takes way longer than 1 hour to bake. I half expected that this new version might correct a misprint in the previous one, but they're identical.
Peggy Herron
Just because they publish it doesn't mean it's a good reciepe . I always find the comment section very helpful when trying one of their reciepes. It's a lot of effort to make this fruitcake I haven't made it yet and am not going to until I see some comments .
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