Cook's Exchange: Celebrate with the fruits of your labor

Bread starters, even brandied fruit starters, and fruit cakes take time.

Fruit or brandied fruit starters take 10 days to three weeks to be ready for a friendship cake batter. The Amish starters take 10 days also.

Fruit cakes can be baked and served when cooled if they are not soaked in brandy or whiskey, which requires several weeks to be ready.

My husband's grandmother baked her fruit cakes about three weeks in advance of Christmas. Each week she would sprinkle the wrapped cakes that were stored in her closet with brandy, then wrap them again, ready for the next sprinkling. It was the only time she allowed liquor in her house and then just for the fruit cakes.

My grandmother, who was also a teetotaler, made fruitcakes every year for Christmas. She made hers, wrapped them in waxed paper and put in tins. Her fruitcakes, which were really good, had not a drop of alcohol on them.

Late last week, reader Judith Meador e-mailed me saying, "Please send me your friendship and fruitcake recipes."

Knowing the time required for these cakes, I went through my files, including family recipes, to get her the recipes as quickly as possible.

Readers, if you have friendship or fruitcake recipes that you would like to share, please send them to me.

FRIENDSHIP CAKE STARTER

1 (16-ounce) can fruit cocktail in syrup

1 (16-ounce) can peaches in syrup

2- 1/2 cups sugar

1 (20-ounce) can pineapple tidbits

2- 1/2 cups sugar

1 (8-ounce) jar maraschino cherries

2- 1/2 cups sugar

FRIENDSHIP CAKE

1 (2-layer) package white cake mix

1 small box vanilla instant pudding

2/3 cup vegetable oil

4 egg whites

1- 1/2 cups fruit only -- no juice

1 cup chopped pecans

Powdered sugar for dusting

Friendship cake starter:

Combine fruit cocktail with juice, peaches with juice and 2- 1/2 cups sugar in large jar. Stir with wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved, cover loosely. Don't close the lid completely. It will

explode. Let stand at room temperature. Stir once each day for 10 days. Add pineapple with juice and 2- 1/2 cups sugar, mix well. Stir once each day for 10 days. Add cherries (cut in half) with juice and remaining 2- 1/2 cups sugar, mix well. Stir once each day for 10 days. Remove fruit and store in a covered plastic container in refrigerator. Store starter juice in covered plastic container in refrigerator. May store in refrigerator indefinitely. Fruit yields enough for 3 cakes.

To start the process again start with 1- 1/2 cups of starter juice and add the fruit and sugar in the order given above.

For cake:

Mix all cake ingredients. Place in an oiled and floured Bundt pan. Bake in a 300-degree oven for 1 hour. When cooled, dust with powdered sugar or frost with cream cheese frosting.

-- Submitted by Bob Petersen

KEEP IT GOING GERMAN FRIENDSHIP CAKE

1 cup flour

1-1/4 cups water

1/2 package dry yeast

First Day and Fifth Day:

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

10th Day:

2 eggs

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1- 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple, well drained

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Topping:

1/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Mix starter ingredients in a bowl and let stand at room temperature undisturbed for 24 to 36 hours.

If you already have your 1 cup of starter from a friend, disregard the above. Place starter in a medium bowl and combine it with the "First Day" ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate.

Stir once a day for 5 days.

On the 5th day, place in a larger bowl and add the "Fifth Day" ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate.

Stir once a day for 5 more days.

Remove 3 separate cups of starter and give each cup to 3 friends with the recipe and instructions. They will not need to mix their starter or let it sit for 24 to 36 hours because you are giving them their starter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all of the "10th Day" ingredients with the remaining mixture. Pour into a greased and floured 9-by-13-inch pan. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

-- Submitted by Bob Petersen

BRANDIED FRUIT STARTER

1 can pineapple chunks, drained (15-1/4 ounces)

1 can sliced peaches, drained (16 ounces)

1 can apricot halves, drained (17 ounces)

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained (10 ounces)

1-1/4 cups sugar

1-1/4 cups brandy

Combine all ingredients in a clean non-metal bowl; stir gently. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 weeks, stirring fruit twice a week.

Serve fruit over ice cream or pound cake, reserving at least 1 cup of starter at all times.

To replenish starter: Add 1 cup sugar and one of the first 4 ingredients every 1 to 3 weeks, alternating fruit each time; stir gently. Cover and let stand at room temperature 3 days before using.

Yield: 6 cups.

Note: Apricot or peach brandy may be substituted for plain brandy, if desired.

Fruit starter can also be used to bake the Friendship Cake. The starter should last indefinitely if handled properly; use clean equipment and keep it covered.

-- Submitted by Pat Kerstetter from Southern Living Magazine November 1982

Now for fruit cakes

The following recipe from texascooking.com makes two 9-inch loaf cakes or one 10-inch springform pan for one big cake.

Patricia Mitchell, website recipe editor, used 1/2 cup less brandy than the recipe calls for. After it was baked and cooled, she wrapped it well in two large pieces of heavy-duty aluminum foil. A week later she unwrapped it and sprinkled1/4 cup of brandy on the top, turned the fruitcake over and sprinkled the other side with1/4 cup brandy. She repeated that task for the next two weeks, and a week after the last brandy spike, it was ready.

OLD-FASHIONED BRANDIED FRUIT CAKE

1- 1/2 pounds (about 3 cups) mixed diced candied fruit (dates, dried cherries, candied pineapple, etc., your choice)

2- 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 (15-ounce) package golden raisins

1/2 cup brandy, for soaking fruit

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup additional butter, softened

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup brewed coffee

2 cups additional brandy, for sprinkling

Additional whole pecans, candied fruit, etc., for decorating

In a large bowl, combine the candied fruit, pecans, raisins and 1/2 cup brandy. Toss to mix thoroughly, cover, and let stand for 3 to 5 hours at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Using 1 tablespoon butter for each, butter two 9-inch loaf pans. Sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of the breadcrumbs, and rotate to coat evenly.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, allspice and cinnamon. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream 1 cup butter with the brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture alternately with the coffee, stirring after each addition, until batter is just blended.

Pour batter over the fruit mixture and blend thoroughly. Spoon batter into prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 1- 1/2 hours (or 1 hour, 45 minutes for a single round fruit cake) or until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Let cakes cool in pans for 20 minutes, and then turn out onto racks, and cool completely. Place each cake on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle each cake with1/4 cup brandy. (See Note, below) Wrap each cake tightly in the aluminum foil, sealing well. Store in a cool dark place.

After seven days, unwrap the cakes and sprinkle each with an additional1/4 cup brandy. Rewrap. Repeat this procedure each week for the next two weeks. Then let the cakes mellow for a final week before serving.

Makes two 9-by-5-inch fruit cakes (or one 10-inch round fruit cake).

Prep time: 4 hours. Cooking time: 90 minutes. Total time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Fruit cake notes: Don't just dump the brandy over the cake. It takes a little patience, but let the brandy drip onto the cake so that it is absorbed. If you like, use a toothpick to make small holes in the surface of the cake.

-- Recipe from texascooking.com

WHITE FRUIT CAKE

4 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shortening

1- 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 pound Sultana raisins

1/2 pound citron, cut fine

1/2 pound each crystallized orange peel, lemon peel, candied pineapple and red and green cherries, cut fine

1 pound blanched almonds, cut fine

10 egg whites beaten stiff

Stir flour once, measure, add baking powder, soda and salt, sift together 3 times. Sift 1 cup of this flour mixture over fruits and nuts; mix thoroughly.

Cream shortening until light and fluffy; add sugar gradually and cream together. Add remaining flour to creamed mixture, a small amount at a time. Beat after each addition until smooth. Add lemon juice, fruits and nuts. Fold in egg whites. Pour into tube pan or 2 or 3 loaf pans prepared with parchment paper lining in the bottom.

Bake in slow oven (250 degrees) for 2- 1/2 hours, then increase to 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

-- From "Cedar Bayou Missionary Cook Book 1929"

Fresh yeast, please

Eunice Van Loon is looking for fresh yeast. Readers, do any of you know where to buy fresh yeast? If so, please let me know.

Coming next week

Three cookbooks crossed my desk this week, and all three would make great gifts for cooks of all levels.

Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net and takes requests at Cook's Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567.

This story was originally published December 3, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Cook's Exchange: Celebrate with the fruits of your labor."