Free Range Fruitcake

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The best fruitcake I ever had

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I watched this recipe 3 years ago and this is the best fruit cake. The cake comes out great and my husband is so proud of the cake. I usually buy small cake use and throw pans and bake mutiple cakes for friends and family. I buy the cake pans from Central Market. Also I buy the cake gift box from Williams Sonoma to pack the cakes. They look and taste very expensive. I do variations in the fruits and nuts as well. Also I spray different types of liquer every year. This is going to be my third year of fruit cakes. Thanks Alton- You are the best.

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I made two batches of this recipe last night, with a third one waiting to be finished in the next day or so. It just made sense to make many batches, since all the fruits came in quantities that lend themselves to at least doubling up. I found some pyrex bowls that are about five inches in diameter that make the perfect size cakes for gift-giving. One recipe makes three of these. I put in about a cup and a half of pecans because I didn't have quite the full measure of raisins. I'll swap pecans for raisins any day! : I found I had to bake the cakes for 70 minutes. My test cake was SCRUMPTIOUS this morning! Can't wait for the mellowing period to be over. My boyfriend gobbled up the test slice in about two bites and asked when the next test would come! I think these are going to be a hit!

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This is amazing and delicious. I have a question though ..I have wrapped my fruitcake in waxed paper and then in cling wrap as I don't have air tight box so when I check them they don't seem to be dry ..is it okay to still spritz them with rum ? Any assistance would be helpful.

Also for shackles2garlands ..I don't like the sulphured apricots either so I put figs, pineapple and peaches, for nuts try hazelnut or macadamia nuts

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In response to mariel1951_3375221's post below, there is mention of placing water in the oven if you watch the video portion of this recipe. The video just says to have a pan of water placed on a lower shelf in the oven to prevent the fruitcake from cracking while baking for the longer time period (1 hour.

"I cannot find my old recipe from the first time Alton made this fruitcake on TV and I missed the show last week-end. Does anyone know what Alton said about placing water in the oven while cooking the fruitcake? I believe the old recipe had the info but this one doesn't. Love this fruitcake though and getting ready to make some for gifts. Thanks."

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I cannot find my old recipe from the first time Alton made this fruitcake on TV and I missed the show last week-end. Does anyone know what Alton said about placing water in the oven while cooking the fruitcake? I believe the old recipe had the info but this one doesn't. Love this fruitcake though and getting ready to make some for gifts. Thanks.

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Mr. Brown has done it again!!!!! We couldn't wait two weeks to try it. We cut a piece the first night 'just to see if we like it'. It is delicious!!!!! We left one half to sit for the full two weeks but will be testing a small slice, from the other half, every day to see when it is best. Anyone that has trouble slicing it, try an electric knife. It slices with ease.

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I would love to try this recipe, but I am running into two problems. I'm hoping someone could offer a good substitute:

1 My fiance does not like pecans or walnuts, so I am not sure on another type of nut that would be good to use. He likes cashews, but I get the feeling the fruitcake would be a little tragic using those. Any ideas?

2 Apricots and sulfur: this is why I love Alton: he points out important allergens. My mom is very allergic to sulfur, and I would like to share the cake with her as well. What would be a good substitute for apricots? The rest of the fruit ingredients are fine.

fyi, I've never seen my mom eat apricots, and I honestly doubt she knew there was sulfur in them. She found out she was allergic to sulfur after drinking wine.

Thanks everyone, any suggestions are appreciated.


Update: I checked online for ideas to substitute for pecans or walnuts, and several people have mentioned almonds. Any thoughts?

Someone also mentioned hazelnuts or pine nuts.

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My mom used to spend all day in the kitchen making traditional fruitcake. She would wrap it in cheese cloth and wet it down with rum for at least 2 months before we could taste it and it was great. My wife and I watched Alton Brown make a different kind of fruitcake on Good eats and we thought we would give it a try. It went together easily. Then she noticed it took a 10 inch loaf pan but all she had was a couple of 9 inch pans and there was to much batter. She split it between the 2 pans giving one pan more then the other. She took the smaller pan out at 45 minutes and the other out at an hour when the toothpick came out clean. We cooled them both and took the small one out 1st. Now came the big question. Could we take the time to age both or cut one to try and age the other? OK, sampling the small one won out. Almost orgasmic. Absolutely the best fruitcake we've ever tasted. Can't wait to try the one we'll age. Thank you, thank you, thank you Alton.

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I am impressed by Alton Brown's good eats because of his scientific approach in cooking. I bake fruit cake by making only one deviation used self raising flour instead of All purpose flour. It turned out to be excellent. Every one should try his recipe for this christmas.