The Ultimate Fruitcake

As promised here is "The Ultimate Fruitcake" recipe passed on to us by the Food Editor of one of Australia’s popular Lifestyle Magazines, For Me. We have tried this in our kitchen and we can guarantee it is truly the ultimate.

You will need the following ingredients–750 gms dried mixed fruits, 150 gms dried dates (chopped), 120 gms dried apricots (chopped), 1/2 cup Cointreau, a 440 gm can of crushed pineapple, 180 gms unsalted butter (chopped), 1 cup brown sugar, 3 eggs, 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2/3 cup self-rising flour, 1/2 tablespoon powdered nutmeg, 1/4 cup blanched nuts, 100 gms glazed cherries (red and green).

Combine all the fruits, except the pineapple, in a bowl and soak in the Cointreau for two hours, then stir in the pineapple. Pre-heat oven 160 degrees centigrade, and prepare a 22 cm round baking tray, lining it with two layers of baking paper. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, gradually add sugar, then the eggs one at a time. Mixture will look curdled after this stage. Fold in sifted dry ingredients, alternate with fruit mixture in three batches. Mix well. Spoon into the tray, smoothing surface with a wet hand. Tap the tray on the table a couple of times to avoid air pockets. Decorate with nuts and cherries and bake for about 1-1/2 hours; put foil after an hour. Test with toothpick for doneness.

Remove the cake from the oven, wrap with two layers of paper napkin, place in a plastic bag so the steam will moisten the cake. Leave overnight to cool. Wrap in plastic and place in airtight container, store in refrigerator or freezer and it will keep.

At this time, ingredients for fruit cakes are still not readily available. But we got some from Rustan’s Makati–mixed glazed fruits (imported or local; we settled for the latter at P96 a plastic jar of 500 gms), bottled cherries, (red and green) and dried dates. While we initially substituted Remy Martin brandy (since we have an opened bottle), you can get Cointreau from Rustan’s wine shop, also in Makati for P700 plus. At SM Bacoor–Wooden Spoon brand self-rising flour (this means it already contains leavening acids) and dried apricots. From Santi’s in Filinvest–glazed lemon and orange at P33 per 100 gms, mixed fruits peels at P51 and glazed cherries at P76. Decorating your cake will be up to your creativity as you arrange the cherries and the nuts on top before baking.

One can not be at Santi’s and buy only the items in the "must get" list. As we have always been easy target for store come-ons, we filled our basket with a box of Australian Camembert cheese (P109), Emmenthal (P53 for 100 gms), chicken gallantina (P87 for 100 gms) and a pack of four beef hotdogs (P64.50). A very pleasant surprise is finding the Puff Pastry (Bambas brand from Australia, where we first discovered them, costing P307 for a pack of 6). These are ready rolled sheets (buttery tasty) which you can put on top of your pastel or other meat pie. That means you need not bother with the tedious chore of kneading flour. Likewise, we could not resist the Antoniou Fillo Pastry triangles (spinach and cheese) at P197 for a pack of 12. This is also from Australia. That country is certainly producing a lot of foodstuff that makes a homemaker’s job much easier. Oh yes, there is a much friendlier staff at Santi’s now.

If you use a lot of aluminum foil and plastic wrap, you might want to get the catering size boxes from S & R Price Club in The Fort, priced at nearly half the going rate in other outlets. It is also wise to get their duo of pure apple juice (housebrand) for P269.95, which gives you a total of 5.68 liters.

The unagi (eel) you buy in most supermarkets (averaging P1,000 a kilo) does not always come with enough sauce. Go to any Sakura store for the bottled sauce at P175 per.

On October 10-12, we are participating in The Laguna/Frisco Duet, a cooking demonstration at the Rustan’s chain of stores from 2 to 4 pm. We will be in tandem with San Francisco-based jet-setting gourmet chef Ludette Mossessgeld Moy, who will interpret the American innovation on typical Laguna dishes featured in our award winning book, In My Basket, The Cookbook. Should be a fun culinary adventure. Be a participant.