Fruit Cake with Cherries

Tonight I sampled "Fruit cake with Cherries from Provence", another Forchy seasonal cake product.  Like the Forchy Christmas Cake I reviewed earlier, the Fruit cake comes pre-sliced.  My first slice out of the package suffered some damage at the bottom of the slice, but I blame myself, not realizing that the tray which the cake rests on is also pre-sliced, so you don't need to lift the slice out of the tray, instead pulling the slice and tray portion away together.  Next time I'll know.

Much like the previous Forchy cake, the Fruit cake with Cherries is a sweet yellow cake, denser than your typical cake, but still lighter than some traditional fruitcakes.  There are indeed cherries, although in my representative slice there was only one.

I found this cake to be drier than the Christmas Cake, and the distribution of fruit was a little sparse.  Each bit was lots of cake and a little fruit.  The cake itself is larger than the Christmas Cake, as is each slice on a slice-to-slice comparison.  But, slice size doesn't make up for the lower fruit per square inch metric.

The cake is made in France, therefore the Provencal Cherries don't have to be exported in order to make the Fruit cake with Cherries from Provence.

I'll give this cake 2 1/2 Red Cherries.  This French cake might be made better with some good ol' American Whipped Topping from a pressurized can.  Hmmm... may have to give that a try.

Kendal Mint Cake by Quiggins

The Quiggins Kendal Mint Cake is not a traditional fruit cake, and, not a proper baked cake at all.  Instead, it is a cake of deliciously refreshing peppermint candy.  Manufactured by D. Quiggin & Son at Kent Vale Mint Cake Works, the 85 gram cake will produce at least 4 approximately 1 inch square servings.  The cake is quite sweet and perfectly minty, less so than an Altoid, more so than a Life Saver.

The cake is made with only sugar, glucose syrup, fondant, peppermint oil, and salt.  My years of candy making at home tell me that the ingredients are cooked to a soft crack state, enough to hold the candy together as a cake but yet easy to bite and enjoy.  Think of the consistency of a praline, and you've got it, mate.

Purchased online from the English Tea Store's Christmas cake section, it qualifies as a Christmas cake, although it is not at all a fruitcake.  It is a delightful Christmas candy cake, and inexpensive, too.  Nicely executed candy, good for your breath, the Quiggins Kendal Mint Cake is a perfect palate cleansing dessert candy following your onion burger or garlicky pizza pie.  I give it 4 Red Cherries.

I Eat Fruitcake So You Don't Have To

I really like fruitcake.  Some fruitcake, anyway.  Fruitcake is excessively maligned during the holiday season, and I think many of the principle maligners have never eaten fruitcake, or at least not good fruitcake.  Like the kinds I make every year.

I've been making fruitcake every Christmas for probably seven or eight years now, a fairly traditional fruitcake with candied fruits, raidins, currants, dates, nuts, and brandy.  Lots of brandy :-)  About 4 years ago I added a Caribbean Black Fruitcake into the holiday baking schedule.  Waaaaay different than traditional, more challenging to make properly, and really tasty.

A couple of years ago during the Great Twinkie Crisis (when Hostess went out of business and Twinkies went on the black market), I was out trying to find Hostess treats while they could still be found.  I bought a Hostess Fruitcake that day.  It looked good in its clear wrap, showing it's fruity goodness.  Looked real good.  Then I took a bite.  One bite.  That was enough.  The rest of the slice, verily, the rest of the cake went in the trash.  It was horrible.  Hostess Fruitcakes may be the reason people hate fruitcakes.

Today at World Market I bought a Forchy Christmas Cake (and a couple others that I'll report on later).  It was boxed, so I couldn't see the actual cake, just the enticing picture on the box.  Was on sale (25% off all fruitcakes), and pretty cheap anyway, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm happy to report that the Forchy Christmas Cake is quite good.  It's much lighter than the traditional, rather dense fruitcake.  It has basically a buttery pound cake taste with candied fruit throughout.  It's a sweet treat, and quite tasty.  Goes great with a glass of cold milk.  It is pre-sliced, great if you're so excited to have a serving of Forchy Christmas Cake that you just can't wait for the slicing to conclude.

I give Forchy Christmas Cake 3.5 Red Cherries, on a 5 Cherry scale.