This year chef's mother-in-law, Ann Aller, has given my students two entire days of her time in the kitchen. She came up from Ottawa to teach them how to bake her absolutely delicious Christmas Fruitcakes ... famous in the family since the early 1950s.
Mounds of eggs
Heaps of candied fruit peel
Tubs of flour
Nuts galore!
Well ... here we go.
To start, we combined all the peel and cherries and almonds and soaked them for 24 hours in pineapple juice, and a good dollop of brandy. Stir well and cover tightly!
The next day we made a simple quick dough ... but in large amounts.
Then make a huge amount of dough ... hand-combined! Matthew and Rick do the sticky, gooey honours.
Fill the many pans after lining with parchment paper, prepared on both sides with butter, and cover.
Bake for between 2 and 3.5 hours in a 275 oven, carefully testing every 15 minutes for the last 45 minutes.
And ... the results speak for themselves!
All this leads to happy students, a delighted chef and a VERY pleased guest. Many, many thanks Chef Ann ... we couldn't do it without you!
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