They are supposed to bring luck and help start the year with sweetness and strength, something we particularly need these difficult times…

English pudding is one of such festive cakes, but it is somewhat too complicated, with lots of strange ingredients, while the Boozy Fruitcake I propose is quite simple, provided you have help chopping dried fruit, and do not spare the cost of real, aged Cognac, Armagnac, or Grand Marnier needed to douse the cake. 

There is also our morning treat: the somewhat heavy yeasted Seedy, Fruity and Nutty Bread, close to a fruit-nut cake, with complex, bold flavor I always have sliced in the freezer. We toast pieces to enjoy with our coffee.

A variation of this bread can become a vassilopita —the New Year’s cake where the lucky coin is hidden.

I used to make our family’s traditional rich, elaborate cake but recently I prefer the simpler Orange or Tangerine Olive Oil Cake, the one I soak in syrup and I often complement with jam or marmalade as well as with seasonal fruit to create a more elaborate dessert. It is a lighter version of my mother’s vassilopita, which she always baked for the New Year celebrations.

Our neighbor Ela’s New Year cake, is another idea: she bakes it halving her mother’s original recipe that calls for 16 egg whites…

This is a delicious, quite easy treat, especially if you have a surplus of eggs, as Ela does. Fortunately she shares with us some of the delicious eggs her hens lay this time of year!

Use the egg yolks to make Pots de Crème!  

The post Dried Fruit and Nuts for Sweetness and Strength appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.

This is a dense fruitcake, full of flavor, that should be thinly sliced and enjoyed in moderation, maybe accompanied by cream, mascarpone, or thick yogurt. 

Makes 2 Fruitcakes

Butter or olive oil for pans

2 pounds mixed fried fruit (pitted Medjool dates, prunes –preferably from Agen, candied pineapple, candied cherries and or cranberries, dried apricots etc)

2 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest

4 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 ½ cups mashed, baked butternut squash

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons double acting baking powder

½-1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ pounds mixed nuts (shelled pistachios, shelled almonds, shelled walnuts and/or pecans)

Maple syrup or warm honey to brush the cake

1/2 cup Armagnac, Grand Marnier or Brandy

Line two 9-inch pans with parchment paper, or one 9-inch square and one long cake pan and brush with butter or oil. Heat the oven to 275 F (140 C).

Combine the dried fruit in a bowl with cherries and orange jest. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift this over fruit. With your hands, toss to coat.

In medium bowl, preferably on a standing mixer, beat eggs with sugar until frothy. Add the squash and the vanilla extract and mix. Pour over the fruit.

With wooden spoon, mix very well. Fold in the pistachios, almonds, pecans and walnuts, and mix until coated with batter.

Divide the mixture between the pans. Using your hands, press to pack the batter very firmly and fill in open spaces.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, until the tops of cakes look dry but not brown. When the cakes are done, transfer to cooling racks. Let stand for 5 minutes, then release springform and peel off parchment paper on sides.

While cakes are still hot, brush lightly with syrup or honey. Let cool 30 minutes, then prick with a toothpick all over and spoon the Liqueur or Armagnac on top.

When completely cool, remove the cakes from pan base and peel off parchment paper on bottom.

It is advised not to eat right away but wrap the fruitcakes in plastic wrap and try them the next day.

They will keep for two months in refrigerator, their flavors getting even better.

Sprinkle with more Armagnac or liqueur before serving.

The post Boozy, Delicious Fruitcake appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.