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Dried Apple Fruitcake
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Southern Recipe Restoration Project
The fruitcake one Newnan family associates with Thanksgiving and Christmas doesn’t contain candied fruit but rather dried apples, nuts and a hefty dose of sorghum.
The contributor: Lucy Holloway, a retired cake decorator from Newnan.
The story: “I was named after my grandmother, Lucy Irene Robertson Harris ...
She “always made this fruitcake around Thanksgiving. We never did find out where it originally came from, but we all loved it. Right after I got married, I asked her how she made it and she told me, step by step. Now my family loves it as well.”
Serve it warm or wrap it well and store it for several days. “The longer it sits, the better it tastes,” says Holloway.
-- Susan Puckett, for the Journal-Constitution
Hands on time: 35 minutes Total time: 3 hours and 45 minutes Serves: 20
Ingredients:
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1 1/2 cups chopped (small dice) dried apples
1 cup sorghum syrup
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pound pecans, chopped medium to fine
1 pound raisins
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
1 cup shortening (such as Crisco)
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Instructions:
Grease a large tube cake pan and set aside. Place dried apples in a saucepan and cover with water. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples are fully hydrated and tender and all the water has been absorbed or evaporated, about 15 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then stir in the sorghum syrup. Return to medium-high heat and cook the apples until the syrup is thick, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
Sift the flour. Place the nuts and raisins in a mixing bowl and toss with about 3 tablespoons of the flour, to lightly coat. Set the nuts aside. Place the remaining flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the baking soda, sugar, nutmeg and allspice and stir well to combine. Add the shortening; cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Add the apples and syrup, nuts and raisins to the batter and mix well.
Spread batter in the prepared pan and place in the center of a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out with a few crumbs. Let the cake cool in its pan on a wire rack for 1 hour, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely. Wrap well in foil and store in a cool, dry place. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
Note: If you like liquor in your fruit cake, soak a cheesecloth in whiskey and place in the center of the cake before wrapping in foil.
Sift the flour. Place the nuts and raisins in a mixing bowl and toss with about 3 tablespoons of the flour, to lightly coat. Set the nuts aside. Place the remaining flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the baking soda, sugar, nutmeg and allspice and stir well to combine. Add the shortening; cut in with a pastry cutter or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Add the apples and syrup, nuts and raisins to the batter and mix well.
Spread batter in the prepared pan and place in the center of a cold oven. Turn the oven on to 350 degrees and cook 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a toothpick placed in the center comes out with a few crumbs. Let the cake cool in its pan on a wire rack for 1 hour, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely. Wrap well in foil and store in a cool, dry place. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
Note: If you like liquor in your fruit cake, soak a cheesecloth in whiskey and place in the center of the cake before wrapping in foil.
Notes:
Share your own heirloom recipe
You, too, can share an old family recipe and honor a loved one: Go to ajc.com/food, and under Recipe Restoration Project click on Submit Yours and fill out the form. Or e-mail it to savingsouthernfood@ajc.com. Or mail it to Southern Recipe Restoration Project, c/o Food Editor Jamila Robinson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303.
You, too, can share an old family recipe and honor a loved one: Go to ajc.com/food, and under Recipe Restoration Project click on Submit Yours and fill out the form. Or e-mail it to savingsouthernfood@ajc.com. Or mail it to Southern Recipe Restoration Project, c/o Food Editor Jamila Robinson, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303.
Nutrition:
Per serving: 565 calories (percent of calories from fat, 42), 7 grams protein, 79 grams carbohydrates,
4 grams fiber, 27 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 43 milligrams cholesterol, 101 milligrams sodium.
4 grams fiber, 27 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 43 milligrams cholesterol, 101 milligrams sodium.
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