Kat's Fruitcake

Why do so many people hate fruitcake? I love the stuff. My mum makes a light fruitcake, heavily flavoured with orange zest and Grand Marnier that's just awesome. Nothing, nothing says Christmas like fruitcake!

Is it the candied fruit you object to? If so. I have the solution

Over the weekend, Kat made a fantastic fruitcake that's totally devoid of candied fruit. It does have 6 cups of brandied soaked fruit in its place! I think that's a great trade off.

Dark, spiced, moist and boozy, without any candied flavouring.

Kat's Fruitcake

Ingredients

1 cup each dried cherries, dried apricots (chopped), raisins, dried cranberries (unsweetened if you can find them), dried pineapple (chopped) and dried plums (quartered)
½ cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
½ cup walnut halves, coarsely chopped
1 cup brandy

4 cups spelt flour (feel free to use all purpose white)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cardamon
½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup plain or vanilla yogurt (OR do as Kat does and make flax eggs*)
¼ molasses
1¼ cups pineapple juice
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp almond extract
½ cup coconut milk

*to make flax eggs, blend 3 tbsp of flax seeds with ¼-½ cup water until mixture resembles a thick milkshake

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss together dried fruit and nuts. Pour in brandy and let sit overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly coat 6 mini loaf tins with nonstick spray (we used 5 mini tins and one 8"x4").

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.

5. Fold wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to over mix.

6. Fold in the fruit and nut mixture.

7. Divide the mixture between the loaf pans.

8. Bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on size of loaf) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9. Let cool completely in pan on rack. If keeping fruitcake for longer than a week, brush with an extra tablespoon of brandy each week to keep the whole thing moist and boozy.