My Mother's Fruitcake

Note: This is a blog post from a while back, but I was just working on the Fruitcake Christmas ornament page and it brought my mother’s fruitcake to mind)))

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Well it’s Christmas Day and you may be wondering…..why is this person sitting at a computer, blogging on Christmas day? At our house, it’s the quiet after the storm….the grands, daughter and son in law have gone to spend time with his family, our extended family get togethers were done yesterday….the shop is closed for a day or two giving us a break from Trendy Tree……so what else could I do……make my Mother’s fruitcake)))

My Mother has been gone now for over 10 years….but my memories of her Christmas fruitcake are still fresh as yesterday. You may be thinking….well….it’s it a little LATE to be making a Christmas fruitcake…..especially if the family dinners are over……yes, I’m selfish…..and that’s all I have to say about that.

The ingredients to this cake are simple……and measurements are not exact, but basically here they are:

1 Box of Graham crackers
1 Jar of Maraschino cherries
1 Jar marshmallow cream
1 Cup of pecans
1 Cup of raisins
Sweetened condensed milk, or Pet Milk…..just in case more moisture is needed

First step is to crush up the Graham crackers. Now…on my ingredients I buy store brand for a lot of things, but for this I prefer Nabisco Honey Maid Graham crackers. They’re just crisper and have a better taste. I’ve seen my mother make this cake with vanilla wafers too instead of Graham crackers.

Be careful taking the crackers out of the box, because you need to keep the box to pack you cake bake in. So remove the crackers and prepare the box by cutting it and lining with waxed paper or parchment paper.

 

Next, crush up the Graham crackers. I like to use a food processor for this. Crush to the consistency of something like cornmeal.

This is really just too simple! Next just add the rest of the ingredients. But first, I like to take the pecans and very lightly. Just long enough to heat through and through. This just enhances their flavor. Be very careful and don’t burn!

 

Once the pecans have cooled, just break them up a bit, you want coarse chunks and leave some of them whole.

Add the raisins and cherries, leaving the cherries whole. Reserve the cherry juice in case you need extra moisture toward the end.

Toss this together and add your marshmallow cream. You can also melt a large bag of marshmallows and use that just as well. Mix together well and if it seems a little dry and not sticking together well….add a little of the reserved cherry juice….sweetened condensed milk or Pet milk. I used cherry juice in this cake, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup.

If I had been making two cakes, I would have probably used the sweetened condensed milk or Pet milk….but since I didn’t need that much liquid….I just used the cherry juice.

Mix together with your hands until you get a consistence that will stick together and form ball.

Spoon the cake into your wax paper-lined box and press it firmly with your hands. It will all fit back into the box….don’t worry))))

One thing I almost forgot……reserve a few of your whole cherries and pecan halves for decoration…….I had to go back to dig a few cherries out!

Now, this is the hard part……cover the fruitcake with wax paper, close the box and store in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight.

Told you this was the hard part…….course…..it has been a couple of hours now since I put mine in the frig……..maybe I should just check to see how it’s firming up…….sure……..bbl.

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If you have a special fruitcake recipe or special memories….or even memories of the fruitcake that would NEVER GO AWAY…..here’s a great ornament to put on your tree. I promise it will bring a smile every time you view it))