Christmas Fruitcake

After my angry crafting moment this week, I decided that I need to embrace the fact that my place is in the kitchen and not the craft room. haha!! I've been fighting this battle for years!

In lieu of that... last night I really got into the Christmas Spirit and made fruitcake.

Last year I was reading about all the world famous fruitcakes. The one that got raved about the most is made by a bakery in San Francisco (another great reason to have our Anniversary there, right?). Well, apparently they soak the fruit for 3 months in wine which results in a moist delicious fruitcake that doesn't need aging. So after Christmas dinner I dumped the left over wine over my jar of fruit and there it has sat and aged for...yes, eleven and a half months!

Seriously! The best fruitcake I have EVER tasted.

Sorry that I didn't post this recipe 3 months ago so that you could all start aging your fruit, but here it is anyway.

Justice Family Fruitcake

5 cups of fruit*
3 cups of nuts*

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, beaten

Coat fruit and nuts with the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix well (you may want to use your hands to mix).

Put into a 9 inch springform pan that has been lined with well buttered parchment paper.

Bake at 300 for 90 minutes. Cool 15 minutes before cutting.

If your fruit wasn't aged first then you may want to let the cake age for a week or two.
To age with wine: wrap in a towel that has been wetted down with wine. Place in a bag and store in a cool place.

*These are my fruit and nut portions but you can use whatever you have on hand:

1 cup dates

1 cup coconut

1 cup raisins

2 cups candied pineapple and cherries

2 cups pecans, lightly chopped

1 cup almond slivers