Fruit cake

[rsdsharp]

14. My mom started her fruitcakes before Halloween.

They were wrapped in brandy soaked towels and placed in tins on a shelf at the top of the cellar stairs. The towels were “refreshed” periodically. She used the neon candied fruit, but it was delicious.

I’ve made Alton Brown’s fruitcake, which uses dried fruits, plumped up in rum, with the finished cake spritzed with brandy. It’s better than my mom’s.

I have a recipe for Hubert Keller’s Alsatian Fruit Bread. It uses a ton of dried fruits and nuts plumped in eau-de-vie, and mixed with just enough brioche dough to hold them together. I haven’t made it yet, but want to.