Want to make Alton cake--source for sun dried berries, cherries?
Hello--Alton Brown has a touted fruitcake -- "Free Range Fruitcake" -- that I'd like to try for Christmas. It should sit and absorb brandy for a couple weeks, so I want to start soon. It calls for sun dried cranberries, cherries, and blueberries. Do you know of a quality online source for sun dried OR regular dried fruit? Also, can you recommend a good "gold rum" , the recipe calls for 1 cup. \
blue room
Nov 29, 2009 02:49PM
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www.KingArthurFlour.com carries all the fruits you need, including the candied ginger, but I can't tell from their website if the fruits are sun-dried; perhaps you could email them.
Their prices aren't too bad, either. Trader Joes or Whole Foods might be good sources for sun-dried fruit, as well.
For the rum, you really don't need anything too high end; I like Ron Bacardi Gold Rum (my rum of choice) Mt. Gay Eclipse Golden Rum (great to drink) or Appleton Special Gold; you can probably get the Bacardi and the Appleton for under $15/a fifth but the Mt. Gay will set you back quite a bit. If you really want to go all out, try Flor de Cana, a very high-end Nicaraguan rum producer; they bottle a 4-year-old Gold, as well as other more pricy rums.
I know people who swear by Captain Morgan for fruitcake, but it's vanilla-scented with other spices, so you should take it's flavor profile into account.
I've always wanted to make this fruitcake; it appears to be a great recipe, but I never had the finances. Let us know how it comes out.
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Thank you, bushwickgirl--if I can just buy close to the amounts I need I *might* be able to afford this! I will post shortly after tasting finished product, AB says flavor will improve for 2 weeks.
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I actually found most of the dried fruits when I made this last year at Whole Foods. I do not know if they were 'sun' dried or not but they worked. My issue was the pan size. If I recall was it 6 inches? I ended up using a 8 inch which of course, made it thinner and less dense. I was never able to locate a 6 inch pan locally.
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Yes, I went to Whole Foods this morning--found everything, and I wish you could smell the chopped fruits/peel/ginger fresh out of 5 minutes steeping in rum in the microwave! I said to myself I might as well open a fruitcakery right now. Here's hoping the rest of the project goes as well.
The pan, hmm, my recipe says "10 inch non stick loaf pan" . Mine is 9 1/4 long by 5 1/2 wide by 2 1/2 deep. I'll put the batter in 'til it seems sufficient, maybe a little will be left out.
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maybe I am thinking of another recipe :) But I was pretty sure it was an Alton recipe but maybe not............ all I know I was never able to find a 6 inch round cake pan!!
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You can find them in restaurant- or cake decorating supply stores; I had a 6-inch round, 3-inch deep pan, primarily for wedding cake layers. I'm sure you can get them online:
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/
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I found one at Walmart in the baking/craft section.
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Thank you very much Becca Porter for the tip on rolling sugar cookies. It was the ONLY thing that worked, and it worked like a charm. Thanks, again.
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I know you found yours at WF already, but Target has them too. And cheaper.
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