Applesauce Fruitcake

The ubiquitous Christmas Fruitcake: It is typically dense and baked in a loaf pan (therefore shaped like a brick and heavy enough to serve as a doorstop), usually served in very thin slices (so thankfully one doesn’t have to ingest too much if forced to eat it out of politeness), crammed with nuts and dried fruit (by what stretch of the imagination are hard candied bits of citrus PEEL—the stuff you throw away when you’re eating an orange!—and translucent flavorless bright GREEN cherries considered fruit?), and is sometimes presented to family and friends during the Yuletide season (the gift that says “I really don’t like you very much.”)

In the middle ages fresh food was so hard to come by that having some withered pieces of dried fruit in the winter was a treat. Hell, times were hard, plagues were rampant, and having anything to eat was probably a treat! We have better transportation and refrigeration now—we can eat fresh fruit year-round. But traditions are traditions, so here’s my family’s fruitcake recipe. It includes cocoa, does not contain candied peel, and it’s actually pretty good.

Dad & Rick, Christmas 1953
(No cordless power drills in the 1950s)

Applesauce Fruitcake

2-1/2 cups flour

1-1/4 cups sugar

1-1/2 Tbs cornstarch

2-1/2 Tbs cocoa

2-1/2  tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp EACH cinnamon, nutmeg, 

    cloves, allspice

1/2 cup red wine* 

  (I confess: we use Manischewitz Blackberry)

2 cups applesauce

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

4 or 5 rings of dried, sweetened pineapple, chopped*

about 6 oz dates, chopped*

1 cup dried cranberries* 

   (or raisins if you prefer)

1 cup dried cherries*

 (or 1 small container glacé red cherries if you really must)

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Prepare one 10 inch tube pan by cutting parchment or waxed paper to fit bottom.  Grease pan, insert paper, and grease paper.

Sift dry ingredients into a very large bowl; then stir in wine, applesauce and oil.  Fold in nuts and fruit. Bake for about one hour, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

*NOTES: the natural foods section of most supermarkets is a good source for some of these dried fruits; it is usually easiest to cut these fruits using kitchen shears. If you do not wish to cook with alcohol you may be able to substitute a fruit juice (such as blackberry or cherry), however I haven’t tried it and would suggest you add just a small amount of vinegar with the juice to increase the acidity level and help the baking soda.