Alcohol-Free Fruitcake

The classic aged Christmas fruitcake is kept moist by brushing rum or brandy all around the baked cake every day, for about one month. Some people do not like the heavy and moist texture of this type of cake, and refuse to comply to the rhetoric of following traditions; others simply are in the plight of alcohol intolerance, and failing to bake the cake soon enough for it to be ready for Christmas might be a problem, as well. Other renditions do not need to be matured, achieving richness by adding the spirit to the batter, but that only solves the time issue. The fruitcake in this post is light both in colour and texture, there is no waiting time after baking, and it is completely alcohol-free. My mom used to make both the aged and the alcohol-free fruitcakes, the first either as one round piece, or a couple of large loaves, while the latter was usually spread in a jellyroll pan and then sliced into bars after baking. I like them almost equally, but in terms of convenience and pleasing a broader crowd, the alcohol-free is the winner, especially when kids might want to score a slice. For this batch, instead of a jellyroll pan, I used four small loaf pans.

Alcohol-Free Fruitcake

Printable recipe: Alcohol Free fruitcake

Ingredients

1 cup butter, plus a little more for greasing; at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup raisins; dark, golden, or a mix
1 cup mixed candied cherries, crystallized fruit (papaya, pineapple), or dried fruit (apricots, currants); chopped
6 eggs
1 orange OR 1 lemon; washed
½ tsp cinnamon
1 cup sliced blanched almonds

Grate the peel from the citrus fruit, making sure not to get any of the bitter white layer; reserve about one tablespoon of zest. In the photo below, grating zest from an orange:

Slice orange or lemon in half, then squeeze to obtain about one quarter of a cup of juice and reserve. In a non-reactive bowl, place the raisins and the chopped fruit, then add the juice (photo below, left, from top right, golden raisins, green and red candied cherries, dark raisins, and crystallized papaya). Mix to incorporate (photo below, right):

Set aside to allow fruit to soak up all the citrus juice.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites, placing the yolks in a small bowl, and the whites in a perfectly clean, large mixing bowl:

Reserve yolks.

Beat egg whites with a large whisk, preferably using the balloon whisk attachment of an electric mixer, at high speed (photo below, left). Once the egg whites have turned foamy, sprinkle one third of a cup of sugar, without stopping the mixer (photo below, centre). Continue beating until the mix is completely white, shiny and firm (photo below, right)

Set aside.

Place one cup of butter and one cup of sugar in another large mixing bowl; using a spatula or the flat attachment of the electric mixer, beat them together at medium speed, until the sugar dissolves, and the mix is smooth and fluffy (photo below, left). Continue mixing, adding the reserved egg yolks, one at a time (photo below, right):

Once the yolk mix is uniform, reduce speed to low, and incorporate about one quarter of the reserved egg whites (photo below, left). Add zest and cinnamon (photo below, right):

Continue mixing at low speed, just until the batter looks uniform. Stop beating and set aside.

Sprinkle about one quarter of a cup of flour over the soaked fruit mix (photo below, left); fold gently with a spatula to coat, which will prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the pan during baking. Reserve. Place the rest of the flour in a sifter or fine mesh, and add baking powder (photo below, right):

Sift over the batter (photo below, left). Mix to incorporate (photo below, right):

Add fruit mix, folding by hand with a spatula (photo below, left). Incorporate the rest of the egg whites, scraping the batter off the wall of the bowl and folding very gently over the whites (photo below, right):

The resulting batter should be thick, but airy and shiny:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease mould(s) with butter, such as a jellyroll pan, or four small loaf pans (5.75×3 in – 14.6×7.6 cm). Spoon batter onto mould(s), smoothing the surface of the batter flat. I placed my small moulds on a cookie tray for easy handling (photo below, left); tap the bottom to release air bubbles. Arrange sliced almonds on top (photo below, right):

Bake in the oven until cake showing under the almonds is golden brown, and a skewer comes clean when inserting in the middle of a mould, between 30 and 50 minutes, depending on the depth (jellyroll would be faster than loaf pans). Remove from oven:

Wait until cool before slicing directly in the pan. A couple of bars or slices of this fruitcake will be as satisfying as the aged one, with the advantage of being ready to enjoy in just a couple of hours:

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