Fruitcakes

Each Fruitcake is made with the most exceptional ingredients one at a time by Robert Lambert. The standard has always been that only an artisan touch will suffice. With great pride, this approach has led to International media and customer acclaim. Choose any two Fruitcakes (mix or match) from these selections:

White Fruitcake
Dark Fruitcake
Winter Fruitcake

Handsomely presented in an exclusive tin.

Some years ago I decided the classic affinity of chocolate and orange flavors could come together in one of my fruitcakes, and went about creating one. Much like the Four Orange Chocolate Sauce I made at the time, my Seville orange, blood orange, bergamot orange and Rangpur lime peels, the last a variety of sour mandarin, combine to lend a broad spectrum of orange flavor notes and play deliciously against a deep rich chocolate background. Annual entreaties ensued to bring it back, to no avail - until now!


Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, coconut, dried apricots and cherries, golden raisins, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, walnuts, candied Seville orange, Rangpur lime, blood orange and bergamot orange peels, orange juice, unsweetened chocolate, orange peel brandy, orange oil, baking powder, salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

A variation on my White Fruitcake, this cake features the fruits of summer preserved for winter, fine glacéed apricots from Australia, dried Montmorency cherries, pears and nectarines plumped with guava juice, and this year, apricot juice, Kirsch and Pear William eau de vies. Hunza raisins from far up the Himalayas add a piquant flavor note. The nuts are hand-cut pecans and Brazil nuts, whole blanched toasted almonds and hazelnuts, the peels house-candied grapefruit, blood orange, Lisbon lemon, Seville orange, and Rangpur lime from Carmel Valley.

The batter is similar to the White Fruitcake, but with apricot juice and guava nectar instead of orange juice, and scented with cardamom, cinnamon and vanilla. The soaking brandy here is infused with the rare champagne geranium leaves I grow, the perfect compliment. Garnished with a Seville orange peel flower and Wisconsin cedar.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, coconut, glacéed apricots, dried cherries, pears, nectarines; Hunza raisins, hazelnuts, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange & pink grapefruit peel, guava and apricot juice, herb-infused brandy, vanilla, baking powder, spices and salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

My grandmother's original recipe. We always called it Light Fruitcake, as opposed to the Dark, but since that word now means low fat and low calorie, I couldn't use it, so White it was. There are hand-cut Brazil nuts and pecans, whole blanched toasted almonds, walnuts blanched before toasting to reduce their bitterness. The glacéed red cherries are still here, but cut to size, the pineapple is dried rather than candied. I've switched golden raisins for flavorful Hunza raisins from far up the Himalayas, added superb glacéed apricots from Australia.

But what most transforms this oft-maligned tradition is the addition of a host of house-candied rare exotic citrus peels: Rangpur limes are not commercially grown - mine gotten from a friend in Monterey; bergamot peel, blood orange, Seville orange, Lisbon lemon, the bizarre fingered Buddha's hand citron, and candied ginger. Each cake is soaked in fine American brandy infused with herbs and spices, topped with Wisconsin cedar and candied blood orange peel star.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, brandy, baking powder, salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

There have long been objections to my use of alcohol for soaking my fruitcakes, from the pregnant, the abstainers, or those who just don't like the taste. But extra moisture is required in the wrapping process, and its antiseptic nature acts as a preservative, so I was hard pressed to find an alternative, until now. In this cake I've used Pasteurized orange juice fortified with ascorbic acid, which is in fact just vitamin C derived from citrus, so the only change is a slightly tart flavor. Since the other cakes all have alcohol in their ingredients, this is the only cake I can offer alcohol-free as there is none in the recipe - my grandmother's original. We always called it Light Fruitcake, as opposed to the Dark, but since that word now means low fat and low calorie, I couldn't use it, so White it was. There are hand-cut Brazil nuts and pecans, whole blanched toasted almonds, walnuts blanched before toasting to reduce their bitterness. The glacéed red cherries are still here, but cut to size, the pineapple is dried rather than candied. I've switched golden raisins for flavorful Hunza raisins from far up the Himalayas, added superb glacéed apricots from Australia.

But what most transforms this oft-maligned tradition is the addition of a host of house-candied rare exotic citrus peels: Rangpur limes are not commercially grown - mine gotten from a friend in Monterey; bergamot peel, blood orange, Seville orange, Lisbon lemon, the bizarre fingered Buddha's hand citron, and candied ginger. Each cake is soaked in fortified orange juice and topped with Wisconsin cedar and candied blood orange peel star.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, baking powder, vitamin C, salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

Cooks traditionally made both a light and a dark fruitcake. Along with dark colored fruits like dates, prunes and raisins, the molasses, brown sugar, port wine and spices made this cake darker in flavor as well. Since my grandmother's recipe was lost, I worked from many old sources to forge a replica. For spices I chose cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, then my favorite 10-year-old port, pecans and toasted hazelnuts. Walnuts are blanched before toasting to reduce bitterness. I plump dried black figs in Kirsch eau de vie, dried pears Pear William eau-de-vie. Figs, dates, prunes, pears and pecans are all hand-cut.

The traditional glacéed cherries are here, but I've added rare exotic citrus that utterly transforms this oft-maligned tradition--my own house-candied peels of bergamot orange, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, the bizarre fingered Buddha's hand citron and candied ginger root. Each cake is soaked in Jack Daniels whiskey spiked with herbs and spices, topped with Wisconsin cedar and candied grapefruit peel star.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, glacéed cherries, raisins, currants, dates, prunes, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, orange juice, molasses, candied bergamot, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, pear and cherry brandy, port wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, baking powder, spices, salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

Like the English Plum Puddings that were traditionally made a year ahead, fruitcakes do improve with age. All my cakes rest at least a month before I sell them, but a full year older is even better. I actually set aside a certain number every season to age, and it costs to keep them in climate controlled refrigeration all that time, but it's worth it. Over time the flavor has developed, expanded and become more complex. Like a wine that was fun while young but more serious now that it's aged, these fruitcakes have become a real fruitcake lover's treat.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, brandy, baking powder, salt
1 pound

All fruitcakes weigh just over a pound and measure approximately 6" x 3" x 2". Each cake is a carefully crafted taste experience and considered the finest in the marketplace.

Like the English Plum Puddings that were traditionally made a year ahead, fruitcakes do improve with age. All my cakes rest at least a month before I sell them, but a full year older is even better. I actually set aside a certain number every season to age, and it costs to keep them in climate controlled refrigeration all that time, but it's worth it. Over time the flavor has developed, expanded and become more complex. Like a wine that was fun while young but more serious now that it's aged, these fruitcakes have become a real fruitcake lover's treat.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, glacéed cherries, raisins, currants, dates, prunes, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, orange juice, molasses, candied bergamot, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, pear and cherry brandy, port wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, baking powder, spices, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, brandy, baking powder, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, glacéed cherries, raisins, currants, dates, prunes, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, orange juice, molasses, candied bergamot, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, pear and cherry brandy, port wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, baking powder, spices, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, brandy, baking powder, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, glacéed cherries, raisins, currants, dates, prunes, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, orange juice, molasses, candied bergamot, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, pear and cherry brandy, port wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, baking powder, spices, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, Hunza raisins, dried pineapple, glacéed cherries and apricots, coconut, orange juice, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, candied Lisbon lemon, Rangpur lime, blood orange, bergamot orange, Seville orange peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, brandy, baking powder, salt
1 pound

Ingredients: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, glacéed cherries, raisins, currants, dates, prunes, figs, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, coconut, orange juice, molasses, candied bergamot, Seville orange, pink grapefruit and pomelo peels, candied Buddha's hand citron, candied ginger, pear and cherry brandy, port wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, baking powder, spices, salt
1 pound

For the true connoisseur, a sampler of one aged White and one aged Dark, both 3 years old. The ultimate fruitcake experience!