It's a Wonderful Cake - Recap

Alton's looking for holiday show ideas, and his staff is failing him one by one. Finally, his grandmother comes up with an idea: fruitcake, that much maligned food. Alton agrees that the cake deserves better treatment.

Alton starts by discussing the history of the fruitcake - they've existed, in various forms, since the time of ancient Egypt. They evolved chiefly as a kind of "nutritional strongbox". Into them went high calorie foods that could spoil easily. The dense batter and high alcohol content discouraged microorganisms and preserved the food value.

It's off to the store for the right kind of fruit - dried, not candied. And avoid that nuclear colored stuff! That fruit is then macerated overnight (fruits are macerated; meats and vegetables are marinated). And while that's going on, it's time to crack the nuts: it's better to buy nuts in the shell and crack them yourself.

The next day, it's time to cook these fruits with spices and other ingredients. This mixture is the basis of the cake's flavor, and so, it's important that it be prepared right. That means quality ingredients, and proper cooking. Alton takes a side trip to a spice vendor to explain how to buy spices.

Once the fruit and spices are cooked together, the dry ingredients are sifted in; Alton explains the right way to mix, so the cake isn't too light. The key is to mix without incoporating a lot of air.

Finally, Alton shows how to bake the cake, and how to store it (properly stored, it can last as long as a year). A dense cake like this can crack in the oven or later, when it dries out - Alton shares techniques to prevent both things from happening. With the proper ingredients and cooking techniques, it IS possible to make a fruitcake people will want to eat.

Share this article with your friends