Skip to main content

Countdown to Christmas 13 - What's in a Name?



 What's in a name? I am not sure I would have ever associated "Trudy Fruity" with fruit cake - it sounds far more trendy and frivolous! And are fruitcake cookies still 'fruitcake"?
 Yesterday, I introduced you to Claxton in Georgia USA as the fruitcake capital of the world. Today, it's Trudy Fruity, a company also in Georgia, which is famous for "seasonally baked goods and gifts." Trudy was in fact "Gertrude" Gilliard, who was well known for her delicious Southern cooking, and especially "fruitcake" cookies. She baked these cookies every year and shared them with family and friends through the 1950's to the 1990's. In 1990, Trudy gave her son, Gary the recipe for her "fruitcake" cookies, and supervised him in the creation of this Christmas treat. Thus,  the Trudy Fruity company was born and  Gertrude Gilliard  has become a household name in USA, especially at Christmas.
I can't say that fruitcake cookies are part of festive fare in Australia usually - I certainly have not heard of them, but I am keen to try them this Christmas. I found this recipe... probably not as good as "Trudy"s, but it sounds scrumptious.
 phots from https://www.facebook.com/Trudy-Fruity

Fruitcake Cookie recipe from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fruitcake-cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 pound mixed candied fruit and peel
4 cups chopped toasted pecans
1 cup raisins
1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300°. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to sugar mixture, beating until blended. Stir in candied fruit and peel, pecans, raisins, and cherries. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 1 inch apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire racks (about 20 minutes).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes  - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary.   Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's  Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers).  This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach.    Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups  https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable  We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ?  from  https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result.  from  https:...
1 comment
Read more

Christmas Firsts #11: Penguins

This year, I fell into the sentimental trap of making some penguin softies for Christmas .... and I am not the only one - penguins seem to be everywhere at the moment dressed in Christmassy costumes, with trees, bells, and all kinds of Christmas paraphernalia.   Should penguins really  be associated with Christmas?   Probably not  and not as Santa's helpers as they often depicted. Penguins inhabit the Antarctic region in the South Pole, while Santa Claus it has been established has his home in the North Pole. The theory is that somehow penguins are associated with snow, then Winter, then Christmas, but what about us in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps they are just cute?  Whatever the reason, when were penguins first seen as part of the Christmas scene ?  While there is no verifiable answer, it would seem that Monty the Penguin in the John Lewis Christmas advertisement in 2014  popularised  the trend. (If you are not famil...
Post a Comment
Read more