Cake #30: Faux Fruitcake

I have never actually had a fruitcake, as far as I know, but apparently those who know a thing or two about fruitcake know that they have alcohol in them (this one does not), and that they don't like them. I know this because I read what Melissa Gray wrote about her co-workers "actually liking" this fruitcake, and because I took this cake to my office with a recipe card stating it's a "Faux Fruitcake" and some of the main ingredients. I caught several people in the kitchen looking at it saying "Fruitcake, huh." To which I kept replying "FAUX!" Eventually, people in the office started to try the cake and the rumor started to spread around the office that it was actually good!

You can make this cake in 2 loaf pans or a 10" tube pan, and I chose 2 loaf pans so that I could take one to work and keep one at home to eat during the Kansas City Chiefs' divisional championship game. 

The cake calls for things like orange slices gummy candy, chopped dates and a lot of walnuts. I made this cake after a trip to Stringtown Grocery in Kalona, Iowa (a bulk Mennonite/Amish run store with all of these things), so it was fairly affordable.

The absolutely most annoying thing about this cake was cutting the orange gummies and dates. I should have read Melissa Gray's story *before* doing this, if I had, I would have read: "Use a good pair of kitchen shears to cut the orange candy, dusting the blades with flour about every third snip." This is well notated now with my circles and arrows in the book in case I ever make this cake again. Which I might. Especially if it brings good luck to the Chiefs again, like it did on 1/19/20!

The recipe said to "pour the batter", but the batter ended up being about the consistency of cookie dough, not exactly pourable. I wasn't sure if a mistake had happened, but it did end up tasting okay.

The 2nd most annoying thing was pouring the glaze. I made a freakin' mess. The glaze was basically thick orange juice, it seemed like it should've been thicker, and I tried to pour it super slowly but it still overflowed all over the loaf pans.

The cake took longer to cook than I expected, the two loaf pans should have taken less time than the tube pan, but they actually cooked for 1 hour and 45 minutes before they were done (the same amount the tube pan should have taken).

In conclusion, I think I would make this again. It has the gummy candy, dates, walnuts and coconuts and goes well with coffee for a hearty breakfast cake.