How to Make Individual-Sized Fruitcakes

Divide fruitcake batter between smaller baking dishes.

Fruitcake -- the quintessential holiday symbol of love and homemade goodness -- makes an ideal gift when you make it yourself and wrap it up in festive paper and ribbon. Instead of making large loaves of fruitcake, consider making individual-sized fruitcakes. Because fruitcake tends to be heavy and sweet, smaller fruitcakes may be just the right size to give this sweet gift without overpowering your recipients with too much fruitcake.

Things You'll Need

• 1 1/4 cup brandy (divided use)
• 1 1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans and walnuts)
• 2 lbs. dried fruits (mixture of chopped raisins, golden raisins, cranberries, apricots, cranberries and prunes)
• Glass bowl
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp. orange juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. orange or lemon zest
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. each of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves
• 1 tsp. salt and baking powder
• Mixing bowls
• Electric mixer
• Spatula
• 10 custard cups (4-inch diameter)
• Oil (for greasing loaf pans)
• Pastry brush

Instructions

1. Place the chopped nuts and chopped dried fruit into the glass bowl. Add 1 cup of brandy to the nuts and fruit and stir gently. Cover the bowl and leave these ingredients soaking for approximately six to eight hours. The dried fruit will absorb the brandy, and it will coat the nuts.

2. Place the butter and brown sugar into the mixing bowl and cream the ingredients with the electric mixer. Add the maple syrup and the orange juice to the bowl and continue mixing. Add the eggs and the orange or lemon zest and continue mixing.

3. Add the ground almonds and the nut and fruit mixture and mix them in gently with the wooden spoon.

4. Combine the flour, the spices, the salt and the baking powder in a small bowl and mix these ingredients well. Add these dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl and stir everything together gently with the wooden spoon.

5. Prepare the custard cups by greasing them. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

6. Pour the fruitcake batter into the prepared custard cups and place them into the warm oven.

7. Bake the individual fruitcakes for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Check the fruitcakes for doneness after 15 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the centers. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove the fruitcakes.

8. Cool the fruitcakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the fruitcakes from the custard cups and invert them on the wire rack.

9. Brush the remaining 1/4-cup of brandy over the outside edges of the fruitcakes. Allow the fruitcakes to cool and dry completely.

10. Wrap the fruitcakes in plastic wrap and store them in the refrigerator for three to four weeks.

References

• Baking Bites: What is Fruitcake?