- This is definitely not your grandma's fruitcake, unless your grandma happens to be Jamaican.

(upbeat music) Hi, Altreisha.

- Hi Yia.

How are you?

- Good, tell us where we're at.

- Oh we're at Galaxy Foods, my favorite Caribbean store in Minnesota.

- Awesome.

So what are we making today?

- We'll be making the Jamaican fruitcake.

- Oh, fruitcake.

- Yeah fruitcake.

- So when I hear the word fruitcake, I kind of cringe a little bit.

- [Altreisha] Oh really?

- Yeah, because I'm just so used to all these like really bad fruitcake you know?

- Have you ever had a Jamaican fruitcake?

- I have not.

So I'm really excited.

- Yeah this fruitcake, it does have a lot of fruit, but it's moist, it's gooey.

It's not hard.

- I'm not the only one that thinks of fruitcake as dense.

The average weight of a fruitcake is two pounds.

It has the same density as mahogany.

What are the first ingredients here that we're grabbing?

- Jamaican fruitcake is usually pretty dark.

So I'm gonna grab some browning for flavoring and it does give it the color.

Let's grab some brown sugar.

- Awesome.

- And this is what makes our fruitcake unique and different because we're using this unrefined sugar.

It's got molasses in it.

So it gives it that good Jamaican cane sugar taste.

Our fruitcake also has some almond flavoring, vanilla flavoring, ground nutmeg.

So let's go grab that fruit.

There's no fruitcake without fruit.

- Oh awesome.

- So here's the tropical fruit cake mix.

It's got different tropical fruits.

This has been marinated for a whole year.

Traditionally in Jamaica, once the holidays over, we start soaking our fruits.

So it's a year long process to get the alcohol infused in our mixed fruits for our cake.

- So preserving it in the alcohol?

- Yeah.

I'm gonna grab some cherries.

It's just garnish at the end for our fruitcake.

It just makes it look really pretty.

- Anything else that we're grabbing here.

- In Jamaica we usually eat our fruitcake around Christmas time and you don't eat fruitcake without sorrel.

So I'm gonna make that for you as well.

- In Europe and Asia, sorrel refers to a green leafy vegetable with a distinct tart and sharp taste.

However in Jamaica, Sorrel refers to the Roselle hibiscus plant native to Africa.

- So typically our sorrel drink is made from dried hibiscus leaves.

- Okay.

I love hibiscus by the way.

It's one of my favorite.

- And it's delicious.

Wait until you taste it.

- Okay.

Sounds great.

- Yeah.

I'm gonna grab some cloves here.

- So far all the flavors you've gotten or all the aromatics does remind me of Christmas.

- Yeah.

- These are all Christmas flavors.

- Yeah.

So there's no Jamaican house without these two things on our Christmas menu.

- Christmas is coming early this year.

- [Altreisha] I know.

- Thanks a lot Aruen.

I really appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- [Yia] I'm so ready for this.

- [Altreisha] Oh yeah, let's go bake.

It's gonna be good.

- The origins of fruitcake go back to ancient Rome.

Roman soldiers ate satura, kind of like an energy bar made a barley mash, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, raisins, and honeyed wine.

Like today's fruitcake, it was calorie packed and didn't spoil quickly.

A plus for soldiers going to the battlefields.

More recipes appeared later using dry fruits, but it wasn't until the arrival of sugars from the Americas in the 16th century and a wide availability of ingredients like nuts and dried and candied fruits that we start to see the cake we know today.

Hey chef, we're here at Studio Q.

We got all this incredible ingredients.

And then we have wine.

Is that just for us?

Or .

.

.

.

- It could be for you, but we do need our red wine as part of the baking process.

- Awesome.

Well, this just seems so rich.

So rich that it was considered a sin and outlawed in Europe in the 18th century.

The ban didn't last long though and by the next century, British Royals were using it as their choice wedding cake sponge.

Yeah.

Under all that icing is a fruitcake.

- So first we're gonna add our brown sugar.

- [Yia] In the 19th century, fruitcake recipes started turning up in the Caribbean, likely brought by the English colonizers.

- [Altreisha] Then we're gonna add our butter.

- And you let the butter soften right?

- Yes, butter has to come to room temperature.

- [Yia] Okay and that's very important when you're creaming it.

- Very important yeah.

- Yeah okay.

- So let's get it creaming.

So you're gonna add each egg one at a time, so it creams in.

So let's just get our wet ingredients.

And we're gonna use our two cups of mixed fruit and our red wine.

- [Yia] When was your first memory of eating this?

- My grandfather used to bake too.

And the first Christmas I remember maybe around three or four and the taste has not left.

- Oh, that's awesome.

And I love that.

I love the fact that like food innates memory inside of us.

- Yeah it does.

(Yia hums) Yeah, pour unto the ancestors say stop.

(Altreisha laughs) Six tablespoon of our Browning.

- [Yia] What is Browning?

- The Browning is burned brown sugar.

It's additional flavoring for our cake and it's what gives it that dark complexion in the cake.

- So is it more of a color or is it more of a flavor.

- It's both - Both.

- It's playing a dual role.

We could have the fruitcake without the dark color, but we couldn't have the fruitcake without the Browning because it is mostly for flavor.

- In Jamaica, it's called both Christmas cake and black cake because of its association with the holiday and dark colors.

- [Altreisha] This is optional.

I'm gonna add some raisins.

- [Yia] Okay.

- So it brings that additional sweetness to the cake.

And let's get our dried ingredients ready.

- Okay.

- So we're just simply gonna add our baking powder and our all spices to this mixture.

- Chef, where did you learn this recipe?

- Oh man.

This recipe is really personal to me.

I learned from my aunt who passed two years ago.

She was my favorite aunt.

And she usually make her fruitcakes as Christmas gifts.

She knew she was a baker.

That was her passion.

I didn't know I could bake until two years ago.

- Really so yeah, break that down for us.

- I had a serious bout of postpartum depression and then just baking.

I baked way through that.

So cakes really saved me and as I was doing my baking practice, I called her and asked for her recipe.

That's how I ended up having the recipe.

I just love baking her fruitcake and it's home to me.

My fruitcake is pretty flavorful.

So let's add our vanilla extract and our almond essence.

We want to add a third of this dried mixture into our mixer.

- So chef, why are we adding this a third at a time instead of just throwing it all in there?

(Altreisha laughs) - Well, it's all about chemistry.

We want it to incorporate without over mixing-- - Yeah.

- our batter.

- 'Cause if it overmixes it gets super dense.

- Superdense.

- Yep.

- And you don't want that.

- And that's where you get that really crappy fruitcake.

- Grandma fruitcake.

- Yeah.

(Yia laughs) - Correct, correct.

I'm really trying desperately not to overmix my fruitcake.

And then once you've gotten all your ingredients in you're gonna mix at medium speed.

You move it to high and then voila.

So let's grab some baking tins.

- Can I just say that the way that this batter looks, it almost looks like a chocolate mousse.

- [Altreisha] Yes it does.

- [Yia] It's so fluffy.

That's so cool.

- Absolutely.

(pan thudding) - [Yia] Awesome.

- [Altreisha] Then we bake it at 325.

(upbeat music) - [Yia] We're moving on to this next part.

- [Altreisha] We're making our sorrel wine.

It typically compliments our fruitcake.

- [Yia] What is the first step?

- [Altreisha] Get our water in the pot.

Get it boiling.

'Cause we want the ginger to boil along with the water so we can get that kick at the end.

- [Yia] That boiling process extract all that flavor of the ginger.

- From the ginger correct.

- [Yia] That's amazing okay.

- [Altreisha] We're gonna just add a few cloves in it.

Then we're gonna add all of our sorrel.

- [Yia] And the one thing I noticed was you turn the flame off.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- [Altreisha] Because we're not boiling the sorrel.

We're trying to steam and extract.

- You really put a lot of sorrel in there.

- Yes.

- Right.

It's absorbing everything.

- Yep.

'Cause we really want it to be concentrated.

- Okay absolutely.

- So we just let this sit for 24 hours and then we add the red wine and the rum at the end and sweeten to taste.

- Amazing.

- [Yia] Okay so we waited 24 hours.

- [Altreisha] Yeah.

(Yia and Altreisha laugh) - [Yia] So we're gonna strain it.

- [Altreisha] Yep.

Okay.

(upbeat music) - Oh.

Oh no.

It looks like a murder scene.

(Altreisha and Yia laugh) (upbeat music) You got this beautiful like magenta color here.

So how do we flavor this?

- We're gonna add one cup of red wine.

- Okay.

- This is optional, but in what you want, and this is Jamaican rum.

It's optional as well.

- But-- - We'll take the option.

- Yeah (laughs).

- Option taken.

- So I typically put about a half cup.

- Yeah, I think that's not really a half cup.

- Okay.

Okay.

- There's a half cup.

- There's the half.

- [Yia] Okay.

- [Altreisha] And then we just sweetened to taste.

- [Yia] Okay.

- So I'll just put sugar until the sweetness ancestors say stop.

(jazz music) - [Yia] I'm so excited.

- [Altreisha] Me too.

- [Yia] And we get to do my favorite part, decorating the cake.

- Typically, as soon as it comes out of the oven to cool down you spray with some extra red wine to keep it moist-- - Oh can I spray this one.

- and to infuse some extra alcohol in it.

- Oh, I like.

- What vintage?

- Yeah.

Way to go bro.

- Spraying the fruitcake with wine, not only add some additional flavor, but the alcohol acts as a preservative.

The act of spraying, brushing, or even wrapping the fruitcake in an alcohol soaked cloth is called feeding the fruit cake.

This has done repeatedly to help prevent mold and yeast growth on the outside while the fruitcake ages.

And I know aging baked goods sounds strange, but some fruitcake connoisseurs claim that you should age them one to three months before you consume so the sugars in the dried foods can mellow.

Oh dang okay.

This part I'm not too good at.

- Yeah.

So I just typically just flip and shake.

- Oh boy, okay.

Flip and shake.

That's a new dance move.

(Altreisha and Yia laugh) - Did you get it?

- There you go.

- Oh yes.

Yes.

My gosh - You see how moist.

- It's super moist.

- Yeah.

- What.

- Told you.

- Oh look at that.

Let's put some of the cherries here.

- Yeah, you can do whatever you want.

You know, you're being extra, but we could just put one.

(Yia laughs) - That's awesome.

(Altreisha laughs) One, you know that's a lot.

So keep myself maybe three.

How about that.

- I was trying to be very artistic about this.

What you think about that?

Look at that.

- Look at that - And voila.

Ladies and gents.

- That looks so good.

- Moist Jamaican fruitcake.

- Oh wait.

- Oh yeah.

(wine spritzing) (Altreisha laughs) Can never have enough red wine.

(upbeat music) - [Both] Cheers.

- Mmm.

- Mmm.

- I think the balance of like that tartiness from the hibiscus with just that sugar in there.

It just really balances out really well.

- Did you taste that white rum though?

- Um-hm, um-hm, yeah.

We'll talk about that later.

(Altreisha laughs) No, but it is so refreshing.

Okay and then now we have fruitcake here.

- [Altreisha] Yep.

- [Yia] It's almost like a little gooey right?

- [Altreisha] Yes it is very gooey.

(upbeat music) - Mmm.

- [Altreisha] That is the best fruitcake you've every had.

- You're right.

Like it's really deep, really rich.

It really shows the difference between using regular sugar - [Both] and brown sugar.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- [Yia] You have changed my mind on the word fruitcake.

- [Altreisha] Yeah.

- And thank you for this incredible drink too by the way.

- Thank you for having me.

It was really fun.

So cheers.

Thank you.

- Cheers.

(upbeat music) - Oh no, it looks like a murder scene.

(Altreisha and Yia laugh) - You did it.

It wasn't me.

(Altreisha laughs) Are you using all of your strength?

(Altreisha laughs) (upbeat music)