This is that time of the year when the world takes out its hostilities on defenseless Fruitcake.

I think it's because we are supposed to be good to each other, kicking the pets is, IMHO, perpetually verbotten, so that leaves the poor, inanimate fruitcake. You can't yell at grandma, so you make fun of fruitcake. You can't spank the kids while Aunt Susie the HyperLib is in town from her teaching job at Berkeley, so...fruitcake takes verbal abuse.

But Why? Have you LOOKED at a good fruitcake? (I do know not all of them ARE good) Good fruitcake contains a great number of the things we're storing for SHTF. Mix them up with some apple sauce, a little whiskey, a couple eggs, bake it and you've got fruitcake. Slice it, wrap it, you've got a great emergency food bar. I'm posting my Italian Grandmothers Fruitcake Recipe, 'cause I'm betting you'll like this one. That and most of us have nuts and stuff sitting around from other recipes now ANYWAY.

Ferrara Fruit cake

¼ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

2 tbl cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup Bourbon (or whiskey, or Rum if you like that better)
1 14 oz can apple sauce
1 10 oz jar cherries
1 14 oz dates
1 14 oz package figs
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain cherries and reserve the juice. Cut cherries in half. Dust the cherries and raisins in ½ cup of the flour. Cut the dates and figs into small pieces.

Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Sift together remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture and mix well. Add the apple sauce and bourbon to this and mix well. Add the fruit and nuts just to mix through.

Pour batter into into a tube pan and bake for one hour without opening door. Check with a BBQ skewer for doneness. Bake for up to 30 minutes or as needed to finish.

Cool well before cutting.

(slice it into 3 or 4 ounce slices, wrap them well, store them in something sealable to keep moisture in and germs / bugs out; Seal-aMeal pouches would work great here)

OH oH email me some

I love a good fruit cake with hot chocolate on the side. NOM NOM NOM

Yeah! YEAH!!

I'm with You Schteveo!

I like the Corsicana Texas "Colin Street Bakery" Fruitcake, for a Commercial one, it is Great! Your Recipe reminds me of one given to me by my Paternal GrandMother. We make it about every two or Three Years. One Batch makes Four Biguns, or Six Gift Size...

I like SPAM, Too! Another Unfairly Maligned Foodstuff!

I have two and half Claxton fruit cakes in the kitchen awaiting my attention right now thanks for reminding me


Handload Spam is a lifesaver and main course at my house, And Squeeze cheese too

I think that fruitcake suffers from the same issues as cranberry sauce. Most people have never had either made by people who care.

I was a skeptic about joining this site last year. Seems I under valued the 'native smarts' of the folks who hang out in here. Any group that is PRO-fruitcake is my kinda people.

I'm a big lover of Spam too, and I like it on the grill too, regardless of Jeff Foxworthy talkin' trash about such things!!! And I do whole cranberry sauce year round, right outta the ice...cold...can!

Claxton fruitcake is...OK...but I like my homemade version better. Of course, I like homemade biscuits better than the restaurant jobs too.

HandLoad wrote:Yeah! YEAH!!

I like the Corsicana Texas "Colin Street Bakery" Fruitcake, for a Commercial one, it is Great!

Colin Street Bakery is far and away the best commercial fruitcake I've ever had.

I cracked that HUGE bottle of RED wine.

Now, I need to find out where that FRUITCAKE wound up?

OH my GOD, where in the HELL did it go?!?!

JUST GIVE ME ANOTHER REFILL.

CHEERS!!!!!!

I live close to the Claxton Fruitcake factory...... Home made is a lottttttt better.