FRUITCAKES: Special occasion or not, I love it anyway!

This cake seen to be special, for the fact that most of the time we make it for Christmas. But you know me, I don't care about the occasion, haha, as long as it's delicious.

Last month I got an e-mail from someone, who wanted a recipe for a fruitcake that is not too sweet. Fruitcake is very sweet from the dried fruits but this recipe uses a lot of nut too and I use less sugar than the original recipe. I use only 220g of sugar but if you want less sweet you can use only 200g of sugar.

For the dried fruits you can use 2½ pounds of your favorite dried fruits, anything that you like, but don't forget to cut them into the same size. And for the fruits I let it stand for 1 week before using it (last time I make Light Fruit Cake: Easy Festive Cake! I felt so lazy I didn't want to wait for any minute ^ ^).

FRUITCAKES

MAKES TWO 8-INCH CAKES

2½ cups (15 ounces)	Raisins
2½ cups (15 ounces)	Golden raisins
2 cups (9 ounces)	Dried currants
2 cups (11 ounces)	Dried sour cherries
2½ cups (9 ounces)	Dried cranberries
1 cup (5 ounces)	Dried apricots, cut into ¼ -inch dice
¾ cup	Honey
1 cup	Cognac, Armagnac, or other brandy
3 sticks (1½ cups)	Unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
2¼ cups	Bread flour, plus more for pans
1 tablespoon	Coarse salt
1½ teaspoons	Ground ginger
1½ teaspoons	Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon	Ground cloves
1½ cups (5 ounces)	Walnuts, coarsely chopped
1¼ cups	Sugar ( I use 220g)
7	Large eggs
1½ cups	Apricot jam
	Assorted nuts and dried fruits, for garnish (optional)

In a large nonreactive container (glass, ceramic, or plastic), combine the dried fruits, honey, and Cognac; set aside to macerate at room temperature for at least 24 hours, or up to 2 weeks, covered with plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 275°F. Generously butter and flour two 8-by-3-inch round cake pans; tap out any excess flour, and set aside. Sift the flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves into a large bowl. Stir in the walnuts, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour-nut mixture and the drained fruit mixture; stir to evenly distribute fruits and nuts.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool completely. Invert cakes onto rack to re move from pans. Reinvert, top sides up.

To decorate cakes, combine the apricot jam with ½ cup water in a small saucepan; stir until melted and combined. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl.

While jam is still hot, brush it liberally over cakes. Garnish cakes with additional dried fruits and nuts, if using, and top with a final coat of hot jam.

FRUITCAKES: Special occasion or not, I love it!

PANETTONES

The Christmas time is coming, preparing is a must when you host a party even in the family (small or big). I think about something to make and not a Christmas fruitcake, I don’t want a cake today. So, what about Christmas bread with a lot of dried fruit, what about Panettone.

Panetttone is traditional Christmas bread, typical bread that enjoyed for Christmas and New Year around Italy. But today we will enjoy it at home, with an easy recipe from ..............(but, if you want to go to Italy than making it, it’ll ok, but this one is very good.) For the dried fruit feel free to use anything you like in the same amount and you will love this bread more.

I make an individual Panetttone with a paper cup, so everyone will have their own, and for today testing everyone told me that it will be better to make more.

PANETTONES

MAKES 2 LOAVES

(12 paper cup 6.5 x 6.5 cm.)

⅓cup	warm water (about 110°F)
2 envelopes ( ¼ ounce each)	active dry yeast
1 pound 5 ounces (about 4 cups)	all- purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup	warm milk (about 110°F)
⅔ cup	sugar
4	large whole eggs
3	large egg yolks
1 teaspoon	pure vanilla extract
1½ sticks (¾ cup)	unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces, plus melted butter for bowl, plastic wrap, and molds
1 ¼ teaspoons	salt
2 cups	mixed dried fruit, such as currants, raisins, and cranberries
	Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
	Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon	heavy cream

In a medium bowl, sprinkle 1 envelope yeast over the warm water. Stir until yeast has dissolved, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in ½ cup flour, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Pour warm milk into a small bowl, and sprinkle with remaining envelope yeast. Stir until yeast has dissolved, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, whole eggs, 2 egg yolks, and vanilla. Whisk in milk-yeast mixture.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, salt, and remaining 3½ cups flour on low speed until mixture is crumbly. With mixer on low speed, slowly add egg mixture, and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the water-yeast mixture; beat on high speed until dough is sticky and elastic, and forms long strands when stretched, about 9 minutes. Beat in dried fruits and zests. Transfer dough to a buttered bowl, and cover with buttered plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Generously butter two panettone molds; set aside. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead a few times, turning each time, until smooth. Divide dough in half, and knead into balls. Drop balls into prepared molds. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; cover loosely with buttered plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until dough reaches just above the top of the mold, 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F, with a rack in the lower third.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining yolk and the cream. Brush tops of dough with egg wash. Using kitchen scissors cut an X in the top of each ball of dough. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue baking, rotating sheet halfway through, until panettones are deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the centers registers 190°F, about 45 minutes. (If the tops brown too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.) Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack to cool 15 to 20 minutes. Turn out loaves onto rack to cool completely.

Recipe from: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

Apple Crumb Pie

For anyone who love crumb, this one is very good. My sister crazy about crumb, crumb bread, crumbs cake, crumb pie you name it, she love them all. Most of the times I like to taste the crumb, it as to be delicious before get into the oven (and its taste is like shortbread dough, yummy yummy). I get this recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, I didn't make any change in the recipe. I have some suggestion that if you like a lot of crumb like my sister do, use all the crumb to make apple crumble it’s delicious too.

Apple Crumb Pie

Makes one 9-inches pie

2 ½ pounds assorted apples (such as Macoun, Cortland, Jonagold, Empire, or Rome), peeled, cored, and cut into ¼ -inch-thick slices

Almond Crumb Crust (recipe follows)

Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

⅓ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 35 0°F. Evenly and firmly press a little more than half of the crumbs about 2½ cups) into the bottom, up the sides, and onto the rim of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly into the edges. Freeze pie shell until firm, about 15 minutes. In a large bowl, toss together apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pour the mixture into the chilled pie shell, mounding apples slightly in the center. Dot with butter. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs in clumps over the apples to cover completely.

Bake, rotating halfway through, until the crust turns golden and the juices begin to bubble, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The pie can be kept temperature, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.

Almond Crumb Crust

Makes enough for one 9-inches pie

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons blanched almonds, finely ground

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almonds, sugar, and salt. Using a pastry Blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Using your fingers, squeeze the mixture together to create pea-size to ¾-inch pieces. If not using right away, cover and chill until ready to proceed.

Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart

I have only one cookbook from Martha Stewart even I subscribed to her magazine Martha Stewart’s living I don’t buy her other cookbooks, not that they are bad but I don’t want them. But for this book, I really love it.

The book starts with the picture of the equipment and techniques that one’s need to know to start baking (ok, it’s not all but I think it’s enough for the beginner). The recipes in the book are beginning from the easiest like simple baked goods, then follow by cookies, cakes, pies tarts, cobblers and crisps, yeasted baked goods and pastry. (And if you want to make a wedding cake the book has recipe too).

What I like most from this book is pictures. The photographs of the finished products are not all perfect, look really like something that we make at home. It makes me feel comfortable to see that baking at home is easy, even they don’t look like store bought product they’re still good. I believe that home baking is good to your health too, so pick some recipes and start baking, you will love them even when they don’t look perfect.

Picture from: Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook