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Dried Fruit Cakes
or
Diane's Antidote to Alcohol-drenched Citron Bricks
The first really good version of this idea that I've come up with after many tries....
1/2 C melted butter
1 C buttermilk
2/3 C honey
2 eggs
300g soft wheat milled fine with
1/2 tsp cardamom seed
1/2 tsp whole mace
1/4 t anise seed
1/4 t mahleb
[for the normal cook who doesn't mill their own, substitute
2 C flour
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground mace
1/4 t ground anise seed
1/4 t ground mahleb or 1/4 t almond extract]
1 T soda
1/2 t salt
6 dried nectarine halves
12 dried apricot halves, ideally tart california style rather than the supersweet turkish apricots
1/4 C dried tart cherries
1/2 C toasted walnuts
Whisk the eggs, honey, butter and buttermilk together and set aside.
Whirl the flour, spices, soda and salt together in the food processor.
Coarsely chop and add the dried fruit to the processor. Process
together until the fruit bits are the size of grains of rice (the flour
is essential to keep the fruit bits from congealing into a single gummy
mass) .
Add 1/2 C toasted walnuts and process briefly until they're finely chopped but not quite as small as the fruit bits.
Remove from processor to a mixing bowl or pitcher.
Whisk the wet into the dried ingredients, just until mixed, then turn
into oiled or paper cup lined muffin pans (about 4 dozen).
Bake at 350 degrees in prepared muffin or cupcake pans for about 20
minutes, until golden.
You should also be able to do this in a bundt pan, greased &
floured, and bake longer, probably about 30-40 minutes, until tester
come out clean.
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