Oh, fruitcake.
The dessert has been the butt of the joke for eons, conjuring images of dense, fruity doorstops. But at Hermannβs Bakery in Royal Oak, the seasonal specialty has had regulars coming back for decades.
Here, the moist, crumbly cake overflows with chunks of fruit and nuts, the product of a recipe passed down from generation to generation.
βMy dad started here in β22,β says owner Richard Hermann. βOne of the things I always remember is during the second world war, he made fruitcake all year long. It was the only thing they could ship overseas and it arrived intact.β
Decades later, Hermann still makes fruitcake the way his father did: nixing the citron, adding in heaps of dates, apples, cherries, and pineapple.
The key to a good fruitcake is good fruit, he explains. βThatβs what people are interested in, more so than the cake. The cake is just the carrier.β
Regular customers wait all year for the loaves, which are available for order just before Thanksgiving.
Last year, the family-owned bakery sold more than 200 pounds of fruitcake during the holiday season.
βItβs been steady all through the years,β Hermann says.
And for those who order a loaf (or two) every year, the fruitcake is consistently delicious. βIβve never heard anybody complain,β Hermann says. βNot yet.β
Hermannβs Bakery, 317 S. Main St., Royal Oak; (248) 541-3218.
Still not convinced?
Put your own spin on the holiday classic.
Even with professional pastry chefs, fruitcake has a bad reputation. βI think fruitcake is gross,β says Jessica Chaney, pastry chef at Grey Ghost Detroit, with a laugh. But with a few tweaks to your own recipe, it could easily be palatable. We chatted with Chaney and Lisa Ludwinski of Sister Pie in Detroit on what they would do if they hadΜύto revamp the holiday classic.
Use real fruits
βI would soak them in alcohol with some sugar so itβs not too harsh, and then roast [them] after,β says Chaney. βIt eliminates some of that density from dried fruit cause theyβre so heavy and chewy.β
Spice it up
βI think I would almost want to make it be where a fruitcake meets a gingerbread, using that sort of spice profile and those darker flavors,β says Ludwinski. βMaybe we would incorporate a buckwheat flour, salt flour to make it a little bit more interesting,β
Go nuts
βI personally probably wouldnβt put in walnuts because they have a very strong, distinctive, and sometimes bitter flavor if youβre not used to working with them,β says Chaney. βIβd switch that out for nice chopped almonds or even cashews.β
βI would maybe throw some pistachios in there, and some almonds and sunflower seeds,β says Ludwinski.
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