20 days till Christmas!

[hermes2015]

Thank you, Hermes.  It seems I must make my own fruit cake since after an hour of online searches the only place I could find selling any was Walmart.  I despise Walmart.

You are welcome. Making it is also a great family activity, where everyone can pitch in and help with the preparation.

[xSilverPhinx]

Semi-serious question:  am I really the only person on Earth who loves fruitcake?  I haven't been able to find any in the stores for years, and when I ask people look at me as if I'm crazy to want it.  At this point I'll have to start making my own.

We have something similar down here, called panettone, which is to Christmas what turkey is to Thanksgiving.



No trouble finding one of these in supermarkets, seems like you have to swim through boxes of boxes of panettone piled high along the aisles. 

I don't like it very much, except with ice cream.

[Dave]

Semi-serious question:  am I really the only person on Earth who loves fruitcake?  I haven't been able to find any in the stores for years, and when I ask people look at me as if I'm crazy to want it.  At this point I'll have to start making my own.

We have something similar down here, called panettone, which is to Christmas what turkey is to Thanksgiving.



No trouble finding one of these in supermarkets, seems like you have to swim through boxes of boxes of panettone piled high along the aisles. 

I don't like it very much, except with ice cream.

You can find panatone in Britain, but you might have to look for it.

However, somewhat more substantial is the good ol' xmas pudding! Absolutely stuffed with goodies and calories!

[Sandra Craft]

Yes, the panettone is everywhere here as well.  It's OK, but it's not fruitcake.  That Xmas pudding looks like it has possibilities tho.

[Dave]

Yes, the panettone is everywhere here as well.  It's OK, but it's not fruitcake.  That Xmas pudding looks like it has possibilities tho.

It is, basically, dried fruit and nuts glued together with a little bit of a sort of flour/water mix and sugar. Plus sone rum, brandy, sherry or whatever tickles your fancy.

Traditionally 6 silver three penny coins, really tiny, were included - it was good luck to find one.  Bad luck break a tooth on one or get one stuck in your gullet! It might be a pud you masticate slowly and carefully if such a trafition was observed...

I doubt that the de-luxe, brandy soused, individual pie I got ftom the supermarket will contain such. I will not be havingbit with the traditional brandy butter ir sauce either, too many sweet thjngs together - vanilla yogurt is my favoured lubricant. Maybe I will annoint it with a little cream liquer as well...

[Sandra Craft]

Yes, the panettone is everywhere here as well.  It's OK, but it's not fruitcake.  That Xmas pudding looks like it has possibilities tho.

It is, basically, dried fruit and nuts glued together with a little bit of a sort of flour/water mix and sugar. Plus sone rum, brandy, sherry or whatever tickles your fancy.

Traditionally 6 silver three penny coins, really tiny, were included - it was good luck to find one.  Bad luck break a tooth on one or get one stuck in your gullet! It might be a pud you masticate slowly and carefully if such a trafition was observed...

I doubt that the de-luxe, brandy soused, individual pie I got ftom the supermarket will contain such. I will not be havingbit with the traditional brandy butter ir sauce either, too many sweet thjngs together - vanilla yogurt is my favoured lubricant. Maybe I will annoint it with a little cream liquer as well...

Yum.  I used to hide a new penny in a loaf of bread for New Year's luck -- of course I let everyone know the penny was in there so they could make sure their slice didn't have it before they started eating.  And some people would look thru all the bread slices trying to find the luck.

[xSilverPhinx]

However, somewhat more substantial is the good ol' xmas pudding! Absolutely stuffed with goodies and calories!

For all the calories it has, it better have chocolate!

[Sandra Craft]

Question: are Xmas pudding and figgy pudding the same, or at least related?  I googled pictures of them and they were both domed and on fire.

[Dave]

However, somewhat more substantial is the good ol' xmas pudding! Absolutely stuffed with goodies and calories!

For all the calories it has, it better have chocolate!

What!! Chocolate in xmas pud!! Sacrilege!

It has so much fruit and nut in it it could be considered "one of your five", it's healthy! Well, apart from the million calories from the sugar and the fats (it should have suet in it really)...

Um, OK, call it "choco-fruity-nutty pud" and serve it any other time . . .

[Dave]

Question: are Xmas pudding and figgy pudding the same, or at least related?  I googled pictures of them and they were both domed and on fire.

Put lots of figs into your mix and, hey presto, figgy pud. Just a recipe variation.

[Icarus]

My New England Yankee wife used to make Plum Pudding. I suspect that Xmas pudding is similar.  The Plum pudding had an essential ingredient that seemingly disappeared during the cooking process. The suspect ingredient was suet.  If I remember correctly (maybe not)  The stuff was cooked by immersing the pot of ingredients in a larger pot of boiling water.

That pudding was similar to fruit cake but much better for my tastes.

It used to be a sort of custom to send fruit cakes as Christmas presents. Tastes change and now receiving a fruit cake would be regarded as a snarky way the sender contrived for insulting the recipient.

There is a small town in the state of Georgia called Claxton. At one time that town claimed to be the fruit cake capitol of the world. There were several bakeries that collectively made a gazillion cakes and shipped them all over the nation. Eventually the bakers began to compromise the quality of their ingredients for the purpose of increasing profits, one would assume. Not surprisingly, demand for the inferior fruit cakes diminished. 

[Dave]

^
Every culture probably has a variety of "boil in the bag" type pudding. Yes, English xmas pud was traditionally just tied in a cloth and boiled, making a real cannonball of a product. But using a basin as a mold gave the more usual flat bottomed job, easier to cut, you see now. That led on to baking instead of boiling, retains more of the flavours!

I once heard of people frying slices of these puds, never tried that myself.

Suet is traditional, probably substituted with some sort of vegetable derived stuff now commercially.

[Dragonia]

....
There is a small town in the state of Georgia called Claxton. At one time that town claimed to be the fruit cake capitol of the world. There were several bakeries that collectively made a gazillion cakes and shipped them all over the nation. Eventually the bakers began to compromise the quality of their ingredients for the purpose of increasing profits, one would assume. Not surprisingly, demand for the inferior fruit cakes diminished.

This is very interesting, I will be driving right by Claxton in May, on my way to Savannah. Maybe the Claxton Bakery makes fruitcake better than other nasty fruitcakes. I should make a plan to stop by, it might be fun!

[hermes2015]

For all the calories it has, it better have chocolate!

[hermes2015]

^
Every culture probably has a variety of "boil in the bag" type pudding. Yes, English xmas pud was traditionally just tied in a cloth and boiled, making a real cannonball of a product. But using a basin as a mold gave the more usual flat bottomed job, easier to cut, you see now. That led on to baking instead of boiling, retains more of the flavours!

I once heard of people frying slices of these puds, never tried that myself.

Suet is traditional, probably substituted with some sort of vegetable derived stuff now commercially.

We used to make Spotted Dick. Have you ever had it?

Speaking of puddings, one thing that has never crossed my lips is black pudding. My Jewish genes react violently to the thought of eating pig's blood.