Fun with fruitcake

“The worst Christmas gift is fruitcake,” the late comedian Johnny Carson once cracked on “The Tonight Show,” continuing with this punchline: “There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other, year after year.”

The Spokesman-Review Food section has its own fun with fruitcake in the next issue, which includes the monthly “In the Kitchen with  … ” feature.

Kay Dixon submitted her recipe for an old family favorite: Nana’s Fruitcake. Nana was her husband’s Lithuanian grandmother, and her confection is more cake than fruit.

Contrary to the oft-repeated joke, Nana’s Fruitcake most definitely couldn’t be used as a doorstop. More moist than dense, it lacks the rum- or bourbon-drenched bits of sticky, candied fruits that seem come in bright, nearly unnatural colors and often help give fruitcake its bad rap.

Great-Grandma’s recipe, on the other hand, has plenty of them. Jonathan Brunt shares his story of trying to replicate his great-grandmother’s booze-soaked fruitcake, even aging loaves in the basement and continuing to add rum or bourbon or cognac throughout the process.

Plus, as always there’s a Fresh Sheet with food-related briefs and more.

Cheers!