Photo by Emily Featherston.
Annette Reynolds makes fruitcake cookies during the holidays.
The fruitcake has long lived in infamy and as the subject of jokes made by dads and crazy uncles around the holiday dinner table.
Cahaba Heights resident Annette Reynolds had never eaten fruitcake before moving to Alabama from Miami, but said she thinks the dessert has an undeserved reputation.
“There was a reason for making fruitcake,” Reynolds said.
In the days before supermarkets and refrigeration, drying and candying fruits were the only ways to keep them in the colder months. And while today’s bakers have fresh grapes and cherries in December thanks to supermarkets, at the time many classic winter holiday treats were created, dried fruits and nuts were the only things available.
Reynolds, who has been a resident of Vestavia Hills for more than 40 years, said she has been baking as long as she can remember. As a kid in Miami, she said she would bake with her siblings.
Now, she bakes for her family and friends across the country and even overseas.
A favorite among her family and friends are the fruitcake cookies she makes during the holidays.
“They love them because of the fruit and the nuts,” she said, adding that even people who may turn their noses up at an actual fruitcake have been known to like the cookies.
Reynolds said the recipe came from a dear friend who has since passed away.
“So I treasure that part of it now,” she said.
Reynolds also suggested that those with special dietary needs supplement ingredients to make the cookies vegan or gluten free.
“I do that a lot, depending on who I’m cooking for,” she said, “It’s like so many recipes that so many people make, you adapt them.”
She said making these cookies is a great reason to invite people into the kitchen, but the recipe is somewhat daunting and bakers should allot plenty of time in the kitchen.
Recipe:
► One box golden raisins or dried dates
► One cup brandy (can substitute wine or fruit juice)
► One pound red and green candied cherries
► One pound candied pineapple
► Three cups pecans, roughly chopped
► 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter (can substitute coconut oil)
► One cup brown sugar
► Two eggs (or equivalent of egg substitute)
► Three cups flour
► 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, allspice, cloves and freshly grated nutmeg
► 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Steps:
1. Soak raisins in brandy until plump, preferably overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Slice candied cherries in half, saving enough halves for topping the cookies and chopping the remaining slices into desirable size.
4. Chop candied pineapple into small chunks.
5. Combine chopped cherries, pineapple and pecans in a large bowl with one cup flour until the pieces are completely coated.
6. In another bowl, combine the remaining flour with the spices and baking soda, mixing thoroughly.
7. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the flour mixture slowly, a little at a time, until the mixture is incorporated.
8. Stir in the raisins and soaking liquid and the dried fruit by hand until mixed. If the dough is too wet, add in pinches of flour until a sticky consistency is achieved.
9. Using two spoons, drop cookies onto a greased baking sheet and top with leftover cherry halves.
10. Bake on the center oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will be crisp when first made, but will soften over time.
