Continuing on my festive holiday baking spree, I wanted to create yet another classic, being fruitcake. Now, I’ve never made fruitcake before, nor have I ever even eaten one. I have seen them on TV and I recall these dense, molasses-y cakes embedded with a ton of fruit in them. So I went with that general route. Ish. I decided to make a variation on the hot milk cake, using condensed milk, just so that we have a cake batter that can soak up all of the liquid from the rehydrated dried fruits. I also decided to add a molasses soaking liquid, which is a failsafe to guarantee that the cake won’t be gross and dry, and a citrus curd glaze, to ensure that the cake is not too sweet either.

For my fruit mixture, I went with golden raisins, dried Turkish apricots, craisins, and dried sour cherries. I opted to rehydrate them in grapefruit juice, honey, and elderflower liquor, just to add a nice flavor to them.

For the fruits:
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup diced dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon elderflower liquor
a pinch of salt

Melt liquid ingredients together and bring to a simmer until the alcohol has been cooked off. Add in the dried fruits and stir until all of the liquid has been soaked into the fruits. Chill down. Reserve 1/4 of the fruit mixture to garnish, then the rest to use in the batter.

For the cake batter:
3/4 of your fruit mixture
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
a pinch of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whip eggs, salt, vanilla, baking soda and powder with condensed milk. Melt down the butter into the heavy cream. Pour that mixture into the eggs and continue whipping until combined. Sift flour with nutmeg. Fold the fruit into the egg mixture first, followed by the flour. Pour into a lined 8 inch baking round and bake at 325 degrees F for 55 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the tin.

For the soaking liquid:
1 cup water
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
1 tablespoon milk powder
1/4 cup molasses

Combine ingredients then bring to a simmer. Once everything is melted together, remove from heat and cool completely before soaking the cake with.

For the curd:
Juice and zest from 2 grapefruit
1 tablespoon elderflower liquor
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

Combine grapefruit juice, zest, cornstarch, salt, and elderflower off heat. Whisk in a pot on medium-high heat until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the butter. Once the butter is fully melted and mixed into the curd, pass through a strainer. Fold in the powdered sugar and allow the curd to fully cool before using.

For assembly:
Flip the cake upside down and poke holes in the bottom of the cake. Pour the soaking liquid through, making sure that the cake soaks up every last drop; if anything escapes, just repour that liquid back in. Frost the top with the curd and garnish with the fruits.