The Fruit Company

With all of the family and friends around this time of year, I like having a holiday fruitcake without any alcohol in it around for everyone to be able to enjoy. Traditionally, the rum or brandy in a fruitcake is what keeps it moist and prevents it from spoiling, making it possible for you to keep it on your counter all season long, so this recipe employs a few tricks to help keep your fruitcake delicious for weeks, but believe me, once people have a slice, it won’t last that long.

The recipe’s first key to making a long lasting fruitcake is to only use dried fruit. Some recipes use sautéed apples, applesauce or canned pineapple. By using only dried fruit the cake is less likely to spoil. The mix is also completely to taste and so you can increase flavors or substitute something less traditional like dried blueberries or cherries, keeping in mind to keep the volume similar. I’ve even replaced the nuts in it completely with more dried fruit when I knew there were nut allergy concerns.

The second trick to keeping your fruitcake fresh and moist is by coating it completely with a glaze. I’ve used a maple glaze here, because I think the flavors is very reminiscent of the holidays and pairs nicely with the oranges and other spices, but if maple isn’t your cup of tea try substituting some orange juice or just some heavy cream. Keep in mind that because certain liquids like orange juice are less viscous than maple syrup you’ll have to reduce the quantity slightly. The final product should be about the consistency of molasses.

Applying the glaze in several layers in what allows you to get it on thicker and therefore create a greater barrier on your cake to keep the moisture in and the air out.

I almost always double the recipe, because while it does have a few ingredients, it’s so easy to make and will last all season long, so it’s perfect to keep around the house for unexpected guests or as a last minute take along as a gift or to a party.

You may have noticed that I use paper cuffs to bake the cakes in. This is completely optional and not necessary, but I like the ease of clean up, and it’s an easy way of gifting the cakes to others or bringing a loaf to work or church without then having to worry about getting your loaf pan back. Just wrap the cooled cake, glazed and placed back into the paper cuff with cellophane and a bow, and you’re ready to bring a confection that is sure to please.

The Fruit Company :Orange Spiced Fruit Cake w/ Maple Glaze (Alcohol Free)

Ingredients:

Cake Batter

1 c butter

1 ½ c sugar

¼ c molasses

4 eggs

3 c all purpose flour

2 t salt

1 t baking powder

1 t ground nutmeg

1 t ground cloves

1 t ground ginger

1 T ground cinnamon

1 c orange juice

Fruit & Nut Mix

2 c raisins

1 c craisins

1 c dates, roughly chopped

1 c candied cherries (red, green, or a mix of the two)

1 c candied pineapple chunks

½ c candied orange peel

½ c candied ginger, chopped fine

2 c pecans (or walnuts if you prefer)

Maple Glaze

4 c confectioners sugar

1 c maple syrup

½ c butter, melted

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 300°F

-Make cake batter by first creaming butter, sugar and molasses in a large bowl with a hand mixer, first on low speed then increasing speed as ingredients become more combined. When mixture is completely incorporated and becomes slightly pale in color, beat in eggs, one egg at a time, incorporating next egg after the previous egg has become absorbed by the mixture

-Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, whisking flour spices and baking powder until completely combined.

-Combine wet and dry ingredients in sections, pouring dry into wet in thirds, alternating with a third of orange juice at a time, until just incorporated. You don’t want to over mix.

-Fold in fruit and nut mixture.

-Fill 4 well greased small loaf pans (approximately 2.5”x 7”x 2”) 4/5 of the way full.

-Place pans onto cookie sheet (for ease) and bake at 300°F for 1 ½ hours or until a toothpick just comes out clean. Cake will still look slightly underdone, but will “set” as it cools.

-Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a rack, approximately 2 hours or overnight

-Meanwhile, combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, and melted butter in a medium bowl until completely smooth.

-Carefully unmold cakes and place on wire racks on a cookie sheet. Pour over half of the maple-glazed mixture, allowing the cookie sheet to catch the drips beneath the wire rack. Allow glaze to set for at least one hour and then repeat with the remaining glaze, again allowing glaze to set for at least one hour, or preferably overnight.

About the Author
A former baker, chef, caterer, and a forever foodie, John is now a writer and essayist, who has written for newspapers and magazines across the country, and enjoys spending his spare time traveling and collecting bow ties.

As the fall season settles in and rain, storms, leaves, windy nights and the brisk mornings become normal, many often refer to this as a dreary time of year.  If you reflect on the Summer fun had and the warmth enjoyed its easy to see why. But once we grow accustomed to this season it soon becomes a time spent with loved one, cherishing the good experienced and focusing on the things that matter the most.

Between the rush of shopping and ads blanketing your television, its easy to find stress in it but if we stop and look at the core of what fall entails we find it to be a time of thanks.  As a company that focuses on being a outlet to share emotion we find great joy in helping you express warm sentiments to each other.

We hope and wish you  safe travels throughout the break and a Happy Thanksgiving from our families to yours!

This recipe looks like it has a lot of steps (and it does), but the steps are all fast and easy and if you start with a premade crust, your pizza will be done in no time. However, before you go straight to using a store bought crust, let me spend a second convincing you of how easy it is to make it at home, especially if you have a kitchen aid. You literally just put everything in the mixer and blend. If you’re really lazy (as I often am), you can even let those last two minutes of kneading happen in the mixer. I also always use the mixing bowl to let the dough rise in. I just take it out for second, oil the bowl, replace and rise.

Whenever I make pizza dough, I almost always also make a double batch and then par bake the left over dough and freeze it for later use, it’s like having “store bought” pizza dough at home and ready to use all the time. You can also make the dough ahead and store it in your fridge covered in an oiled bowl or a storage bag for up to two days. If this is still too much work for you, I recommend asking your local pizza joint to buy some fresh dough from them. You can usually get some for a few bucks, and the results are totally worth it.

For this recipe, I do par bake the dough, since the topped pizza doesn’t have to stay in the oven for very long, but for traditional marinara sauce pizza, I just use the dough in it’s completely raw form.

As for the two sauces in the recipe, both are fascinatingly simple, in one you just blend all the ingredient, and the other, you let sit on the stove for a little while, while your pizza is baking, and both sauces are excellent to have on hand. I always make homemade pesto in the summer months when basil is abundant, but during the winter, I like to use arugula, which stays relatively inexpensive and is easy to get all year long. The peppery flavor is perfect with the sweet pears and I spoon it on fresh to get the full impact of the arugula. The sauce is also great to use like traditional pesto on pasta, or to top roasted potatoes, spread on to sandwiches, or spooned onto roasted chicken, fish, or a good steak.

The honey balsamic reduction is just as versatile, and I often use it to jazz up grilled chicken or to top bruschetta or roasted veggies.

Once you have all the pieces ready, it really is just assemble and bake. The ingredients are few and simple and so each one really shines. You get the smoky notes of bacon and creamy tartness of the goat cheese with the bright peppery arugula all there to support the sweet complexity of the Comice pears.

This is an easy recipe to have in your back pocket for a quick meal to have for guests, and the bacon can easily be replaced with toasted walnuts for an equally delicious vegetarian option. The walnuts and pears are so good together, that it’s sure to please even your most devout carnivores.

Comice Pear and Goat Cheese Pizza with Arugula Pesto and Honey Balsamic Glaze

1 large pizza crust

1 large Comice pear, thinly sliced

12 oz. goat cheese crumbled

8 oz. thickly sliced bacon, cut into 2 in. squares (about 5-6 slices)

(or 1 c toasted walnuts, for a vegetarian version)

1 c. Arugula Pesto

3-4 T Honey Balsamic Glaze
Preheat oven to 475°F

Prepare a 14 or 16 in. pizza pan by lightly coating with cooking spray or scantly dusting with cornmeal

Roll out pizza crust thinly  and place on prepared pan.

Par bake crust for 4-5 minutes on 475°F

Meanwhile,  cut bacon into large 2 in. pieces and cook on medium high heat until lightly browned, but not cooked completely. Bacon will continue to cook and further crisp in the oven.

Once crust is par baked, crumble on goat cheese then evenly place on the bacon and thinly sliced Comice pears.

Baked at 475°F for 7-9 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and pears are golden around the edges and roasted through.

Remove from oven and let cool for a minute before spooning on arugula pesto and drizzling on the honey balsamic glaze.

Pizza Dough: makes 2, 14 -16 in. thin crust pizzas

1 T (or 1 package) or dry yeast

½ c warm water

1 t. sugar

3 – 3 ½ c All Purpose Flour

2 t salt

¾ c milk

¼ c olive oil

Mix yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl and let proof for approximately 5 minutes or until the yeast starts to bubble.

In a medium sized mixing bowl or in a kitchen aid with a dough hook or similar appliance with a dough attachment, blend flour and salt, then after yeast is proofed, mix in remaining ingredients starting on low to medium speed, then increasing to a faster speed till all ingredients are well combined or until the dough forms a ball and begins to slightly pull away from the sides.

Remove from the bowl onto a slightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about an hour or until the dough has approximately doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, punch it down, divide in two and it’s ready to use.

Arugula Pesto: makes approximately 2 ½ c of finished pesto

2 c packed arugula (approx. a 5 oz. container)

¾ c extra virgin olive oil

½ c freshly grated parmesean

½ c toasted pine nuts

2 T lemon juice (about half of a large lemon)

1 small clove garlic

salt to taste

Wash and dry your arugula well. Even a few teaspoons of water left on the leaves will substantially water down the flavor of your pesto.

To toast the pine nuts, place nuts in a dry sauté pan on medium high heat shaking or stirring the nuts continuously until they are lightly browned in color and their aroma intensifies.

Place all ingredients except the olive oil into a blender or food processor (I prefer a food processor), and pulse while drizzling the olive oil in a slow but steady stream.

You are looking for a smooth, but not liquid consistency. The sauce should be of medium thickness, adjust with more or less olive oil (or lemon juice) to your desired consistency.

Honey Balsamic Glaze:

1 c balsamic vinegar

¼ c honey

Place ingredients in a small saucepan and on medium heat reduce by half.

The sauce will thicken as it reduces and should coat the back of a spoon when done. Be careful when it’s cooking not to get it on your skin as the reduced sugars in both the honey and balsamic will act like caramel and can stick to and burn your skin.

The reduction will thicken more as it cools and you may need to reheat it on low heat before using if it thickens too significantly.

About the Author
A former baker, chef, caterer, and a forever foodie, John is now a writer and essayist, who has written for newspapers and magazines across the country, and enjoys spending his spare time traveling and collecting bow ties.

We at The Fruit Company are so very thankful to all current and former members of the military that have served the United States of America!  Thank you Veterans!

We at The Fruit Company wanted to just take a minute and wish you all and your families a wonderful fall.  As the leaves start to dance off the trees and the colors change, enjoy the time shared with loved ones and friends as we enter into a festive time of year filled with the lighting of the fireplace, hot chocolate and the sprinkling of rain.