I baked fruitcake around midnight last night. This was pretty close to a Jamie Oliver recipe.
I had been soaking the candied fruit and dried fruit in Appleton rum and Metaxa Brandy for about 3 months. I added 3 cups of toasted broken walnuts.
Each loaf weighed just under 2 lbs, before going into the oven. I had filled them 3/4 full. I may fill them 2/3 full and bake at 300⁰F rather the 325⁰F for the first hour next time, to see if that keeps the loaves from cracking. These ones cracked in the first hour of baking, at 325⁰F. The Jamie Oliver recipe has the first hour of baking at 325⁰ F, then the next hour to 90 minutes at 300⁰F.
I will start at 300 next time and maybe reduce the heat after the first hour.
I baked 2 loaves in a Bain Marie and 1 on a cookie sheet, to compare results. I will use a Bain Marie going fwd.
Fruitcake ideally should be baked to an internal temp of 205⁰ to 210⁰ F.
I pulled the loaves in the Bain Marie, which were taking longer to bake understandably, when they were around 195 ⁰F, since I was worried the bottom crust was overbrowning.
The middle and some crumbs are slightly underbaked. Not terrible, but could be better!
The loaf baked on a cookie sheet, which came out of the oven with an internal temp of 205⁰ F had a slightly over browned bottom. I think the Bain Marie protects against that.
I’m relatively new to Fruitcake baking. I have made the Nigel Slater Xmas cake twice, a King Arthur Flour recipe once, a Newfie recipe once, and a Guyanese Black Cake once.
So, this was my 6th time baking Fruitcake!