[CH] Chile fruitcake Southwest US)

Rain (raincrone@aaahawk.com)
Thu, 16 Dec 2004 02:26:10 -0500 

Personally, I'd make this with something a lot hotter than New 
Mexicos. but
_chacun a son gout_.


Chile Fruitcake
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Chiles:

1 lb Red New Mexico chiles, seeds and stems removed, cut into 1/2"
           squares
1 lb Green New Mexico chiles, seeds and stems removed, cut into
             1/2" squares
12 cups Sugar, divided
2 cups Water, divided
3 drops Red food coloring
3 drops Green food coloring


Cake:

1 can (6 oz.) Frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup Dark molasses
3 cups Raisins
1/2 cup Butter or margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup Sugar or vegan sweetener
3 Eggs  or egg substitutes
1 1/4 cups Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 /2 Tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Cardamom
1/4 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Cloves
1/4 tsp  Black pepper, optional
A small pinch of Nutmeg
1/2 cup Pecans, almonds, cashews  or walnuts, chopped


Chiles:

Bring half the sugar and half the water to a rolling boil, 
stirring until
the mixture is clear; remove from heat.   Stir in the red food 
coloring
and the red chiles.  Return to a boil and simmer until skins are 
tender.
Drain well overnight, saving the syrup.

Repeat above steps for the green chiles, using green food color.

Cake:

Combine the orange juice concentrate, molasses, and raisins in a
saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until 
mixture comes to
a boil.   Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat 
and stir in
the candied chiles; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together.   Blend in the eggs, one at 
a time.
Sift together the flour, soda, and spices.  Stir flour mixture 
into creamed mixture.
Stir in the fruit/chile mixture and nuts.   Preheat oven  to 275F.

Mix well until all fruit and nuts are completely coated.  Fill 6 
(or7) well-greased
small (4 1/2 X 2 3/4 X 2 1/4") loaf  pans  3/4  full.   Bake at 
275°F for 1 1/2 hours.
Cool cakes in the pan, then remove.   If cakes are not to be 
cured [i.e., soaked
in spirits], wrap in foil  or plastic wrap and store in a cool 
place for several weeks.

CURING: Once the cakes have been removed from the pans, allow them
to  cool for several hours. Then wrap them sideways in a  double 
layer of
cheesecloth. Use scissors to trim the cheesecloth so  that no big 
wads of
cloth are formed. Moisten the cloth thoroughly with dark Jamaican 
rum;
a sprayer makes this easier.  [I would think topnotch bourbon 
would be even
better, but I can't test it for ya. :)]

Place wrapped cakes in a reasonably airtight  container such as a 
cooler.
They may be stacked three deep if necessary.  Store the cooler in 
a cool
area such as a cellar.  Weekly,  open the cooler, spray the 
cakes, give
them 1/2 turn and rotate the bottom cakes to the top.  If you 
start in late
September, you should have some really good cakes by mid December.

WRAPPING:  Wrap the cakes, cheesecloth and all, tightly in aluminum
foil before attempting to giftwrap them. They may then be placed in
boxes or wrapped in gift paper.   [Ed.--Remember to check if the
intended recipients consume alcohol.   It's not true that all the
alcohol  disappears in a few months, and some people also just
don't want the booze flavor, either because they don't like it or
because it has bad memories.]

SERVING: Now we come to the reason you saved the syrup from the
peppers.   It's GREAT!!! over ice cream.  If you want something to
serve to guests or for dessert, put a generous slice of chile
fruitcake on a dessert plate.   Put a big scoop of vanilla ice cream
on top and pour a little red syrup down one side and a little green
syrup down the other.  [Or some red syrup over the top and
some warmed apricot or peach preserves over that.] Gooooood vittles.
        Source:  Mary Anne via chiliochile@yahoogroups.com, slightly
             adapted by Rain

Rain
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