Fruit cake. Christmas cake. The two are often synonymous in North America. I didn’t eat a lot of Christmas cake each year, but I think I ate some almost every year. Little pieces. But then, Christmas cake is so rich that it’s difficult to eat anymore than a little piece. As well, my mother made so many sweets for the holiday season that you could only eat a little of each one if you wanted to taste them all. I miss all of that.

Recently my daughter suggested we make some Christmas cake. I didn’t think too seriously about it at first. But in the last week, it’s been digging a hole in my head, suggesting ingredients to use, suggesting days when I’ll have some time, suggesting places to look for ingredients. And so, I got to work on the cake yesterday.

And here it is. Today, it took close to 4 hours in the oven on low heat, but it looks good!

I started by soaking some dried fruits yesterday in brandy. I had recipes that suggested I leave the fruit in the brandy for 24 hours, but I’m a bit too impatient so I went with just 12 hours. I also included a lot of fruit zest or peel in the cake. There is orange, lemon and grapefruit zest inside. Also, I added a good handful of chopped walnuts.

How does it taste? I don’t really know. I had a few little scraps left from the baking pan, but other than that I’ve just been able to smell it. And how does it smell? Fan-tastic! I won’t try it for a few days. Instead, I’ve soaked some cheese cloth in brandy and wrapped the bread in the cheese cloth, then in some plastic wrap. I’ll leave it for a few days to let the brandy work its wonders on the cake. Then I’ll slice it up. When I do, I’ll post more pictures.

Here’s hoping I can have my cake and eat it too!