White Fruitcake – NOT Awful Brown Fruitcake

Bringing flavor, pizazz and panache to cooking

My cousin Brad Bobbitt’s daughter, Amber Bobbitt, asked me for some recipes from our family so that she can share them with her children. This was one of my Grandmother’s, Mother’s and Aunt’s  favorite recipes. It is NOT the awful brown fruitcake full of candied citron that many people hate and make fun of. I can remember my Grandmother making this a few weeks to a month before Christmas, wrapping it in cheesecloth and soaking it in a couple of cups of rum, brandy or peach brandy before storing it in a tightly closed tin in the top of her closet. She didn’t drink alcohol, but she loved her alcohol-soaked fruitcake. I really like it and I’m going to make it for our family get together at Christmas this year. Enjoy!

Amber Bobbitt

1 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Sugar

2 large Eggs

1 tsp Orange Extract

1 tsp Lemon Extract

3 cups Cake Flour, divided

2 tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Salt

½ cup Peach Nectar

1 cup flaked Coconut

1 cup Candied Pineapple (about 1/2 pound), chopped

1 cup Candied Cherries (about 1/2 pound), chopped

1 cup Golden Raisins (about 1/2 pound)

1 cup Crystallized Ginger, chopped

2 cups Pecans, chopped and toasted

6 Egg Whites

2 cups Rum, Brandy, or Peach Brandy

My mother, grandmother and aunt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in extracts.

Combine 2 cups cake flour and next 3 ingredients; add to butter mixture alternating with the nectar, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.

Stir together remaining 1 cup cake flour, coconut, and next 4 ingredients. Stir fruit mixture and pecans into batter.

Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Pour into the tube pan.

Bake  for 2 hours or until a long wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack

Wrap in cheesecloth and soak with run, brandy or peach brandy. Seal in a tin and store in a dark, cool place for two weeks.

Beans and Cornbread ala Mary

We didn’t have beans and cornbread when I was growing up because it didn’t have enough meat in it to satisfy our family. But I did get to eat it with our neighbors and I grew to love it. Over the years, I’ve developed my own recipe for this dish and I still enjoy having a good bowl of beans with a side of buttered cornbread. Larry puts the cornbread in his beans. You choose which way you like to eat it. In fact, I’m about to go make a batch right now!

Beans:

1 lb pinto beans

2 to 3 32-oz boxes chicken broth – I prefer Pacific Organic Free Range Chicken Broth because of the rich taste

4 slices thick bacon, salt pork, ham hock, or diced ham

1 tsp salt – eliminate if you use salt pork or ham hock

2 tsp black pepper

2 to 3 Tbsp Fiesta Pinto Bean Seasoning to taste (www.fiestaspices.com)

Pick through the beans, getting rid of any bad ones or pieces of dirt. Pour the beans into a soup pot or Dutch oven. Cover with chicken broth by 2 to 3 inches. Slice bacon into small pieces and add to beans.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 2 hours, or until beans are tender. Check the beans every 20 minutes or so and add more chicken broth to pot as needed. Beans should end up with a thick broth.

Toward end of cooking time, add salt, pepper and Pinto Bean Seasoning to taste. Don’t over-salt.

Cornbread:

¼ cup + 2 Tbsp shortening

1 cup corn meal

½ cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice

½ cup milk

1 egg

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons shortening in a cast iron skillet, muffin pan or 9”x9” baking pan.

Combine corn meal, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and egg. Add baking powder and baking soda and stir. Add ¼ cup melted shortening, stirring constantly.

Pour into hot pan, smoothing surface with spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown on top.