Five Pounds of Fruitcake by Bunrab (Austin, Texas, USA)
Chocolate
Mocha Cupcakes by Furball
(Alexandria, Virginia, USA)
Delicious,
Fast, Small Chocolate Cake by RealBookWorm (Charters Settlement, New
Brunswick, Canada)
Over The Hill Birthday Cake by Tmaiq (The Dalles, Oregon, USA)
Banana
Cake by SongsterSam (Hudson, Ohio, USA)
Five
Pounds of Fruitcake by Bunrab (Austin, Texas,
USA)
"Best made before
Halloween -- right after Easter is ideal to have ready for Christmas."
1 cup seeded raisins*
2 cups seedless raisins* (*I usually use all seedless, mixing golden and brown
raisins)
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup halved candied cherries
2 cups candied citron
1/2 cup candied lemon peel
1/2 cup candied orange peel
1.5 cups walnut or pecan pieces
A note about all this fruit: it adds up to 10 cups. I usually don't stick to
the exact list here - and I add dried cherries and/or cranberries to the
raisins. So I usually wind up with about 12 cups altogether of fruit and nuts,
frequently: 3 cups mixed candied fruit, 1 cup citron, 1 cup candied cherry
pieces, 3 cups assorted dried raisins and cherries, 1 cup chopped dried
apricots, 1 cup chopped dates, and 2 cups chopped nuts - pecans, usually, since
I've been in Texas. Feel free to adjust this to your family's tastes - no
citron, candied or dried pineapple instead of cherries, more orange peel, fewer
raisins... as long as you have between 10 and 12 cups of dried or candied fruit
and nuts, it will work. We now return you to your recipe...
1/2 Tbsp grated orange rind
1/4 cup fruit juice -- any kind you have around, grape, orange, pomegranate,
etc.
2.5 cups sifted flour
optional: half tsp salt (I've left this out for decades, and no one has ever
complained)
1.5 tsp baking powder
2 sticks (1/2 pound total) unsalted butter (note - you can substitute a cup of
shortening for this, but the butter really tastes better)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp mace
1/4 tsp ginger
5 eggs, well beaten (Scramblettes/powdered eggs work just fine)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Make sure that there are no pits in any of the fruit, and no shells in the nuts;
rinse all the fruit and pat dry. Combine fruit, nuts and grated orange rind. You
need a HUGE bowl for this- a punch bowl works well. Pour fruit juice over
fruits. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. In yet
another bowl, cream the butter (it helps if you microwave each stick for 10
seconds first) both sugars and all the spices, then beat in the eggs. Add the
butter mixture to the fruit, then all the flour mixture, and mix THOROUGHLY.
Make sure there's no clumps of dry flour there, and that every piece of fruit
has at least a very thin film of batter on it.
Line 3 loaf pans with non-stick parchment paper, or brown butcher paper, heavily
oiled. Divide batter between the three pans- it will fill all of them all the
way to the top and maybe a little rounded up in the middle. Smooth the tops with
a scraper. Decorate tops of cake with halves of candied cherries, chunks of
candied pineapple, and/or almond slivers, as desired. (You can do none of those,
or any one, or all. I like making almond-sliver snowflakes/stars.) Bake in a
slow oven (275 to 285 degrees F, or 135-140 degrees C) for about 2 hours -
depending on the size of your loaf pans. Check first at 1.5 hours, and keep
checking at 15 minute intervals after that, till toothpick comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in pan, on rack, for at least a half hour. Remove
from pan by lifting edges of parchment paper, then peel off the paper.
Now the fun part: once the cakes are completely cool, wrap each in a double
layer of unbleached muslin. Pour cheap brandy over the top- about 1/4 cup per
cake, soaking it into the muslin well. Wrap the muslin-covered cakes in tightly
crimped aluminum foil. Then put the loaf, with its wrappings, in an airtight
container- a heavy Ziploc freezer bag will do, or a nice decorative tin with a
tight lid.
Then, at least once every 2 weeks, haul out the entire arrangement, take off the aluminum foil, pour another 1/4 cup brandy over the muslin, and rewrap and return to tin.
Ideally,
you should start the fruitcakes the week after Easter, so that they will be 90%
brandy by Christmas, but they'll be adequate if you make them 6 weeks before
Christmas, and remember to brandy them about every 10 days. Unwrap the foil and
muslin, wrap in decorative cling wrap or cellophane, and present to the
recipients, with a warning about serving it to underage people or designated
drivers. :-)
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Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes by Furball (Alexandria, Virginia, USA)
"My mother used to wrap these
individually in plastic wrap and freeze them for my lunches. She'd pop one in
the lunch bag and by noon it was thawed. You can frost them, but Mother didn't
and neither do I. The cupcakes actually aren't too bad, fat-and-calorie-wise, if
you leave off the frosting. Keeping them in the freezer means you can thaw out
just one when you have a bad chocolate craving."
1 3/4 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup cocoa
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup softened butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup buttermilk
½ cup strong coffee
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sift all of the dry ingredients, including sugar, together into mixing bowl. Add
butter, 1/3 cup buttermilk and coffee. Beat for 2 minutes until batter is well
blended and glossy. Add remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, the eggs and the vanilla.
Beat 2 more minutes. Line muffin tins with paper liners (or lightly grease and
flour) and fill about 2/3 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until
toothpick comes out clean. Makes about 24 cupcakes, at least in my pans.
Delicious, Fast, Small Chocolate Cake by RealBookWorm (Charters Settlement, New Brunswick, Canada)
"My sister gave me this recipe years ago and it's a fast simple recipe to make a small (8x8 or 9x9 pan) chocolate cake. She said it doesn't need any icing (or frosting if you prefer that word) because it's so moist. I thought to myself, yeah, right! But it really doesn't. It's a great recipe when you want something quick to make and it's very flavorful. It is delicious. And you dirty only one pan, one spoon and one sifter."
1 ½
cups flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water
Sift all the dry ingredients into a 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 ungreased pan. Make three (3) holes or indentations in the mixture. In one hole pour the cooking oil. In the second hole pour the white vinegar. In the third hole pour the vanilla extract. Pour the water over the entire mixture and stir until mixed, then beat with a spoon until you can't see any dry mixture. Bake at 350o degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
Over
The Hill Birthday Cake by Tmaiq (The Dalles, Oregon, USA)
Note: This is more of a cake decorating project than an actual cake
recipe. The ingredients can be varied, and different fillings can be used; with this
cake it is the final effect that is important. Click
here to see a picture of this cake.
"A birthday dessert - a Bundt cake with two different fillings,
decorated to look like victim is helplessly sliding down the hole. In other
words, "over the hill," fingers digging into the hill as the victim is
pulled down."
You'll need:
Your favorite chocolate cake recipe, baked in a bundt pan
A chunk of florist's foam cut to fit the hole in the cake's center
Small, clean wooden stake with pointed ends
Small, round potato
Cake decorating bag with round tube
Filling 1
2 envelopes Dream Whip
1 (six serving) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup hazelnut liqueur
2 1/2 cups cold milk
Filling 2
Cream cheese
DeKuyper® ButterShots®
Liqueur (a sweet, butterscotch flavored liqueur)
Chopped pecans
Powdered sugar
Brown Sugar
Decorator Icing
A double batch of regular buttercream icing (most covers the cake, the rest is
for decorating)
Cocoa
Assorted food coloring
Chocolate Clay (You'll use this to
form figure pieces)
10 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces, melted
4 tablespoons heavy cream
6 tablespoons softened, (not melted) sweet butter
1 - 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur
1. Bake chocolate cake in bundt pan. When cool split into three layers.
2. Make Filling 1 (use mixer): Combine Dream whip, pudding mix, hazelnut
liqueur, and cold milk. Beat 4 minutes. Chill, then spread on bottom layer of
cake about ½-1 inch thick, then add middle layer being careful to align ridges.
Freeze.
3. Make Filling 2: Blend cream cheese, Buttershots liqueur, chopped pecans,
powdered sugar, brown sugar. Spread on center layer of cake about ½-1 inch
thick, then add top layer, being careful to align ridges. Freeze.
4. Make Decorator Icing: Mix double batch buttercream icing and set aside enough
to cover the figure, to make the grass and to write on the cake. Add cocoa to
most of the icing to tint it light brown. Use it to cover the filled, assembled
cake so that it look like a hill of soil. Add a bottom border of green-tinted
icing to signify grass. Wrap a block of florist’s foam (cut to size) in
plastic & insert in the center hole. This will be used to support the
head.
5. Mix chocolate clay and chill until malleable. Form the figure pieces. First,
the head: Poke one end of the wooden stake into the small potato and cover it
with the chocolate clay until it is round (make it about racquetball size), add
a "bump" for the nose & ears. Chill to harden, then coat with
flesh-colored icing.
Next, the make the torso, neck and arms by rolling chilled chocolate clay into
long-ish, round shapes. Cover the neck & arms with flesh-colored icing and
the torso with a different color to signify a shirt.
Make the hands; roll chocolate clay into two small, round balls and coat with
flesh-colored icing. Use a sharp knife blade to separate fingers. Use toothpick
to create ruts in frosting to show fingers digging ruts as "the
victim" slides down the hole.
Decorate the head (the covered potato) with flesh-colored icing to make the
face. Add hair with round tube, in victim’s coloring. Use the round tube to
add eyes. Make a comical, shocked expression of horror. Consider the position
head will be in when on cake before positioning features. Chill to firm, then
stick the exposed end of the wooden stake into the florist's foam in the center
of the cake.
6. Finally, using dark brown icing, write "Over The Hill" on the side of the cake and the "victim's" name on top.
Banana Cake by SongsterSam (Hudson, Ohio, USA)
"One of my favorite cakes, this delicious recipe came from
the woman who lived next door to me as I grew up in Reminderville, Ohio. The key
to this recipe is using very ripe bananas to get a strong, rich banana flavor.
1/2 cup shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs, large
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup bananas, very ripe, mashed
1/4 cup milk, soured
1 teaspoon vanilla Cream shortening and sugar. Beat eggs
until fluffy and blend into sugar and shortening. Sift together flour, baking
powder, soda and salt, and add to shortening. Mix on slow speed. Add banana,
sour milk and vanilla. Beat at medium speed. Bake at 350 deg-F for 30 to 35
minutes in two 9" layer pans.
Note: milk can be soured by adding a small amount of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk.
