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MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2017
the
Holiday
issue
Satsuma Rum Cake
Makes 10 to 12 servings
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1
cup butter or margarine, softened
1
cup sugar
2
eggs, lightly beaten
Zest (grated rind) of 1 lemon
Zest (grated rind) of 2 satsumas
21 cups all-purpose flour
2
teaspoons baking powder
1
teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1
cup buttermilk
Satsuma Rum Glaze (recipe follows)
HOW TO PREP
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-
inch tube pan or Bundt pan well.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter until light.
Add sugar and beat until the mixture is light
and fluffy. Add eggs and zest of lemon and
satsumas. Beat until the mixture is very light.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift or mix together
well the flour, baking powder, baking soda
and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed
mixture alternately with the buttermilk,
beginning and ending with the dry
ingredients. When the batter is well-blended,
spoon it into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted
near the center comes out clean. While cake
is still hot and still in the pan, pour on the
glaze. Cake can be left in the pan for several
days before serving.
bakeries and he really wanted to work with
department stores.At the time, their holiday
programs were massive and intricate. For
the next couple of decades, they really
focused on Macy’s, Saks, Bloomingdales
and so on.” D.H. Holmes and other iconic
Louisiana department stores carried these
fruitcakes as well.
In the 1950s, the fruitcake was sold in a
“hermetically sealed can, back when that
was a big thing,”Sorensen said. “Before they
sealed it, they would pour a shot of brandy
over it, and then they sealed the can.” It was
opened with a can opener.
Now, the lid lifts off easily to reveal a ring of
neatly wrapped slices.When a friend of the
bakery wanted several to take to a Rotary
Club meeting, he asked for them to be
sent with the pieces individually wrapped.
Eventually, that led to all the cakes being
cut and wrapped that way.
“It got pretty tedious,” Sorensen said. The
equipment they used for wrapping the slices
is now antique.
Sourcing the high-quality ingredients is a
huge part of the fruitcake work, Sorensen
said. “It’s always quite a process. At the end
of the day, it’s fresh nuts, glacé fruit and the
cake with the in-house glaze on top. One
thing my dad does — we craft our own
flavors in-house.That goes a long way with
the fruitcakes. It’s not some spice blend
we get elsewhere. It’s got rum and brandy.
It’s such a nostalgic item. We look at every
detail of it to make it.”
Sorensen thinks it’s hilarious to find the tins
for sale in antique stores, which frequently
happens. Long after the contents are gone,
that pretty St. Louis Cathedral on the top
makes the Creole Royale Fruit Cake tin
a popular container for sewing supplies,
buttons or any small collectibles in countless
homes worldwide.
While I like all kinds of fruitcake, I’m really
fond of fruitcake cookies, especially the
ones my sister-in-law in Arkansas makes
every year. Her recipe is a favorite that’s
several generations old. It’s sublime!
So as you can see, there’s fruitcake and then
there’s fruitcake. Maybe the reason you
don’t think you like fruitcake is because
you’ve never had a great one. Go ahead!
Try one of these recipes, and you might just
change your mind.
Satsuma Rum Glaze
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Juice of 2 large satsumas
Juice of 1 lemon
1
cup granulated sugar
2
tablespoons rum
HOW TO PREP
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan
and bring to a boil over high heat. When
mixture boils and sugar is dissolved, pour
evenly over the hot cake.
Fruitcake Cookies
Makes about 10 dozen
My sister-in-law, Johnnie Trower, makes this
favorite cookie froma recipe that is credited to
a home economics teacher. The recipe makes
a lot, so you can halve it if you wish. The cook-
ies improve with age, and they freeze well.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
31
cups all-purpose flour
1
teaspoon soda
1
teaspoon salt
1
pound pitted dates, cut up
2
cups candied red and green
cherries, cut into sixths
4
slices red and green candied
pineapple, cut up
1
cup white (golden) raisins
2
cups coarsely chopped pecans,
plus some for tops of cookies
1
cup butter, melted and cooled to
room temperature
1
pound box light brown sugar
2
eggs
1
cup buttermilk
HOW TO PREP
Sift flour, soda and salt into a bowl. Add
fruit and nuts to the mixture, and toss
them lightly to dredge them.
In a large bowl using a stand or hand
mixer, mix the melted butter, brown
sugar and eggs until well-blended. Stir
in buttermilk. Add flour, fruit and nuts
mixture, blending well. Refrigerate over-
night in an airtight container.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to
375 degrees. Drop dough by rounded
teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on
lightly greased cookie sheets. Decorate
the top of each cookie with a pecan half.
Bake 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Cool completely on wire racks. When
cool, store in closed containers. Cookies
improve with age.