White Fruitcake Recipe | Spectacularly Delicious

WHITE FRUITCAKE: NANNA JEPSON’S LIGHT FRUITCAKE

The clock's ticking on getting traditional fruitcakes done by next week – but all's not lost! My pal Frank Morgan's Nanna Jepson from Walpole, Mass, passed down this recipe for a light, white fruitcake that is good to go as soon as comes out of the oven. Sweet, cakey, colorful. It will stand out on a holiday buffet and better still, those bah-humbug "I hate fruit cake" cranks will be hard pressed not to nibble on this welcoming loaf.

This pristine Jepson light fruitcake recipe is admittedly a tad waspy. But what a wonderful counterpart to the more familiar dark, sticky genre. I'm not saying choose one over the other — Christmas ain't done 'til it's overdone, so two fruitcakes are de rigueur for a truly lavish Christmas spread.

Nanna Jepson's fruitcake calls to mind the pristine white clapboard churches that are the focal point of small towns from Massachusetts to Maine. Proud and beautiful in their honest simplicity. In contrast, Mrs. Merino's Fruitcake recipe evokes a more Roman Catholic vibe — elaborate, mysterious, the suffering of saints on display, sunlight dimmed by stained glass.

To paraphrase Rodney King, Why can't we all just get along? After all, Christmas is a time of reconciliation. And for the record, our Jewish friends love our fruitcakes too!

Recipe for Nanna Jepson's Light Fruitcake

Cream together 1/2 c. of butter and 1 3/4 c. sugar
Add 3 eggs and stir
Mix in alternately 3 c. flour and 3/4 c. milk
Add 1 c. white raisins, 1 c.chopped walnuts, 1 c. mixed dried fruit
Add 1 T. almond extract and 1 T. vanilla extract

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours

makes 1 loaf

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Written by skfsullivan on December 16, 2010 under ALL RECIPES, Breads, Dessert.

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http://twitter.com/CharlesGT Charles G Thompson

Why can’t we all get along indeed! I’d taste this one because you made it! Great story about it being passed down, and love the Wasp angle, and I’d definitely fall that way versus the Catholic direction being one of those ‘I hate fruitcake’ cranks. Ahhh, the holidays!

http://www.spectacularlydelicious.com Sean

Steve did point out, that rest her soul, Mrs. Merino was in fact of the
Protestant persuasion, but had married a fine Catholic fellow.

http://thehospitalityguru.com.au Anna Johnston

Always good to have an interesting alternative and what better cake to have for your white Christmas’s than this one.

http://www.spectacularlydelicious.com Sean

Fruitcakes a much-maligned here — is it the same down-under?

Karen@Mignardise

I love me a nice waspy fruitcake like this.
Hope you have a very merry Christmas Sean!

http://www.spectacularlydelicious.com Sean

I didn’t even know that fruitcake even came in different colors! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too Karen.

Laura Richardson

I’m new to your beautiful blog. I notice that your white fruitcake recipe does not have any chemical leavening in it and only half a cup creamed butter & three whole eggs, yet it has risen to a nice peak. This is mysterious to me– how did you do it? Is it in the creaming of the butter? My grandmother Memaw’s white fruitcake included stiffly beaten egg whites and baking powder (as well as a pound of pecans and a whole coconut, among other things). Thanks for this lovely site. Laura

http://www.spectacularlydelicious.com Sean

Hi, thanks for pointing this out. Going to check w/my pal Frank who gave me
this lovely recipe. Stay tuned! — Sean
http://www.spectacularlydelicious.com Sean

GET THIS: Frank never uses leavening, the batter is intentionally dense and
works well without it. Wild, right? Please let me know how yours turns out.
– Sean