By The seder was Saturday. Twelve people. The food was right. Sophie's matzo balls were fluffy. Ethan's four questions were sure. David carved. Hannah carried the napkins with ceremony. Noah, six, helped with the afikomen search and found it under the couch cushion and demanded his prize with the negotiating intensity of a six-year-old labor leader. Marvin's photo watched from his place.
I brought Marvin the seder food on Sunday. Brisket, matzo, charoset, wine. He ate the brisket. He drank a sip of wine. He sat in his recliner and I said the blessings and told the story — abbreviated, essential, the bones of the story: slaves, freed, matzo, remember. He listened. The listening is the participation. The participation is the chain. The chain held. The seder is done. Another year. Another telling. The story goes on.
After the seder—after the brisket and the matzo and the sip of wine in Marvin’s recliner—I found myself thinking about the things we carry forward and how we carry them. This No-Candied-Fruit Fruitcake felt right for that mood: no artifice, no neon cherries, just real fruit and real effort, the kind of thing you make slowly and share with someone who matters. It’s the kind of recipe that asks you to be present, the way telling the story asks you to be present. I made it the week after Passover, and I thought of Marvin the whole time.
No-Candied-Fruit Fruitcake
Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cherries
- 1/2 cup dried figs, stems removed and chopped
- 1/2 cup dark rum or orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons molasses
Instructions
- Soak the fruit. Combine dried cranberries, raisins, apricots, cherries, and figs in a bowl. Pour rum or orange juice over the fruit, stir to coat, and let soak for at least 1 hour or overnight. Drain any excess liquid before using.
- Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. Beat softened butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add molasses and vanilla and beat to combine.
- Add eggs. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.
- Combine. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture just until combined. Fold in the soaked fruit and toasted nuts until evenly distributed.
- Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown. Tent with foil halfway through if browning too quickly.
- Cool. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 95mg