578413 Mon Dec 08 13:08:15 -0800 2008 26 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 4230068 I just got in the mail a fruitcake as a gift. I am told this fruitcake -- from Gethsemani Farms -- is supposed to be one of the better ones on the market. Perhaps even an artisanal fruitcake, if that terms isn't an oxymoron. So, this time I'm actually going to eat fruitcake. What I'd like to know is if there are ways to enhance the experience. Should I heat it up? Eat it with ice cream? Top with whipped cream? Or is it best served and eaten, straight up? Do tell. Thanks. Mon Dec 08 13:08:15 -0800 2008 11583 ipsedixit 1 4230078 I like it very thinly sliced at room temp, no adornments. Accompanied by a cup of black tea. I find the warmth of the tea in your mouth brings out all the flavors. Mon Dec 08 13:12:26 -0800 2008 4230068 17682 torty 1 4230104 Just as is and at room temperature, or with some heated custard poured on. I've ordered a Trappist fruitcake this year, and am looking forward to its advent! Mon Dec 08 13:21:25 -0800 2008 4230068 63925 thought_for_food 1 4230123 yeah, you've got a good one. a sliver of good cheddar can be nice, too. Mon Dec 08 13:27:04 -0800 2008 4230068 115871 marthasway 2 4250061 Yes, I agree. I like to eat a slice of rich fruitcake with quite a lot of thinly sliced sharp cheddar and a tangy perfumed sliced apple (Cox's, ideally). Tue Dec 16 04:03:07 -0800 2008 4230123 12075 katielp 1 4230131 With apologies to Claxton, GA, the best way to enjoy a fruitcake is to re-gift it..:) Actually, I am a fan of fruitcake and enjoyed a delicious one from Bien Fait in Greensboro, VT, last holiday season. Room temp, no adornments, but whipped cream sounds good. Mon Dec 08 13:28:32 -0800 2008 4230068 57170 Veggo 2 4276526 I was going to suggest eating it in the closet to avoid all those fruitcake haters that tell you how nasty it is while you are enjoying it. Sat Dec 27 15:56:40 -0800 2008 4230131 89493 scubadoo97 1 4230532 Assuming it's a really rich dark fruity one, then Wensleydale cheese is by far the best accompaniement. Mon Dec 08 15:41:39 -0800 2008 4230068 154102 Harters 1 4230575 I think it would be great with a slice of Lancashire cheese -- kind of like St. John's take on eccles cake and Lancashire. Mon Dec 08 15:54:41 -0800 2008 4230068 10763 Miss Needle 2 4231609 Hah. I was just gonna say that. Apparantly they do that up north (England). Tue Dec 09 02:59:25 -0800 2008 4230575 180623 Soop 3 4232195 We do - hence my earlier reference to Wensleydale, which (IMO) works best of the mainstream northern cheeses with fruitcake. It has enough salt and tang to work as a counterpoint to the sweetness of the cake, without being so strong s to overpower. Personally, I don't see Eccles cake going to well with cheese - the pastry is too flaky and I reckon that would work against the eating enjoyment. Even if St Fergus does it. The similarish but less flaky Chorley cake might work better - in which case get a good mature Lancashire - Kirkhams or, my favourite, Shorrocks. Tue Dec 09 08:41:28 -0800 2008 4231609 154102 Harters 1 4231701 Very thinly sliced, with slivers of unsalted butter (to which you could add some coarse sugar or salt crystals if you like for textural and taste contrast) and/or cheese. Tue Dec 09 05:04:05 -0800 2008 4230068 13819 Karl S 1 4231740 With copious amounts of Bourbon Eggnog! Tue Dec 09 05:29:10 -0800 2008 4230068 15712 cavandre 1 4231896 Unwrapped as a colorful bookend. Otherwise I would moisten it with brandied milk or whipped cream. Tue Dec 09 06:53:48 -0800 2008 4230068 68363 JungMann 1 4232464 Try a good dollop of homemade lemon curd made with lots of butter and salt. Tue Dec 09 09:53:02 -0800 2008 4230068 227202 vtnewbie 1 4232700 Soaked in brandy overnight. No, I take it back. Drink the brandy first, during and afterwards. Tue Dec 09 10:53:46 -0800 2008 4230068 12082 PeterL 1 4243478 Warm slice liberally spread with hard sauce..... WOW! Fri Dec 12 22:15:02 -0800 2008 4230068 169832 NVJims 1 4249613 From what I know about fruitcake...you don't have to decide today or tomorrow or a year from now what to do with your fruitcake. I know a friend who pours rum or bourbon over it, wraps it in cheesecloth then wraps it in foil, refrigerates it and brings it out at different times of the year to serve with either whipped cream or vanilla bean icecream. Mon Dec 15 19:35:27 -0800 2008 4230068 239340 latindancer 1 4249840 I adored my great-grandmother's fruitcake, made shortly after Christmas and wrapped, brandied, tinned and re-brandied throughout the year. Although I have always loved even the cheapest factory-made fruitcake, this was THE special one, a conglomeration of preserved fruits and just a few nuts, with only enough dark, sticky cake to bind everything together. Utter perfection. Eat anything with it? What could possibly stand up to it, aside from a cup of tea or a glass of milk? Even in my pubescent years, when I could have consumed a whole roasted turkey at one sitting, Grandma James's fruitcake was a thing I could eat just one sliver at a time...okay, two. Mon Dec 15 21:56:10 -0800 2008 4230068 11478 Will Owen 1 4274515 room temp, thinly sliced with a thin smear of cream cheese Fri Dec 26 14:17:43 -0800 2008 4230068 161011 nolanani 1 4274533 sliced cold and eaten with a little good unsalted butter is fabulous (or at least thats how my mother has it so i do to) and don't forget a cup of tea english breakfast for preferance. :-) Fri Dec 26 14:28:16 -0800 2008 4230068 235412 umbushi plum 1 4274815 I was just watching the fruitcake episode of Good Eats. Alton Brown eats his toasted with mascarpone cheese. Sounds good to me! Meryl http://inspiredbites.blogspot.com/ Fri Dec 26 17:13:43 -0800 2008 4230068 63311 puppymomma 1 4275080 Get out your best cheap paring knives, and carve yourself a statue. A Cupid for Valentine's Day. A bust of Abraham Lincoln. Or Barak Obama for an inauguration party. Fri Dec 26 20:14:06 -0800 2008 4230068 166787 beth1 1 4275756 Just plain, with a cup of hot tea or coffee... adding anything else to it is gilding the lily. Sat Dec 27 09:03:37 -0800 2008 4230068 67657 Kajikit 1 5243504 There are actually some ideas in this thread that make me want to use fruitcake for something other than a doorstop. Thu Dec 10 19:27:53 -0800 2009 4230068 253542 cycloneillini 1 5243529 We make two cakes each year...About 8 weeks before Thanksgiving...and 8 weeks before Christmas...There's 1/4 cup bourbon in each cake's batter...After baking a jigger of Bourbon is poured over the top and tightly wrapped in foil..Each week thereafter the cake is unwrapped, "seasoned" again and re-wrapped to "cure" .... My suggestion to the OP...Unwrap it now!!! Season with bourbon...wrap it back up...Then do it once more before Christmas....Slice and serve with a good cup of hot coffee!! Have Fun and Enjoy! Thu Dec 10 19:45:59 -0800 2009 4230068 65057 Uncle Bob 1 5243578 Aren't there fruitcake chucking events in the US? So disrespectful... I actually like fruitcake, done up like Uncle Bob's. Thu Dec 10 20:15:40 -0800 2009 4230068 1095104 bushwickgirl