Didn't wan to steal focus from the thread that inspired me to start on my own fruitcake. Will try cooking it in the woodstove-- yes, in. Been soaki g the fruits and nuts in rum since I got home yesterday. I will update as I go.
Got my baking stone warming up over a very low fire. I just brought it in from outside and is very cold and I do not want it to crack. It's limestone, a bit smaller than the firebox and about four inches thick.
Ok, just used my coal keeper to take out as much ash as possible whilst keeping the hot coals. Moved coals to either side of the firebox and put in the stone. I then started a medium sized fire atop the stone as I am trying to heat the stone now. Once the fire is raging I will go prepare the batter.
Ok, got my batter together and in the pan. As you can see, I am using the old world style oil brown paper method to line the pan, we will see how that works. Also, this is a commercial length pan so I in teased my recipe, lets hope it's enough. Behind the pan you can see the bottle of rum and next to it is a measuring cup with the rum I used to soak the fruits and nuts. It's much darker now and has a purple tinge to it. Also tastes pretty good, but I am saving this for basting the cake later. And here you have the cake, loosely covered with aluminium to combat fly ash. I have it perched upon the limestone with a wire rack between to try to keep the bottom from burning. The limestone measured at 592 degrees according to the infrared just before I added the cake. All the coals have been swept off of the stone.
I can't wait to see the results and no, you aren't stealing my thread - you are adding to it. I can imagine how the house is starting to smell now with all the spices and rum. I don't use liquor in my cooking but I know it can add quite a nice flavor to everything. Starting to drool thinking about it.!
Here it is fresh out of the oven. As you can see, it did burn around the edges and also on the bottom. The limestone was still at 462 when I pulled the cake out. Next time I think 525 may be the target temperature. Next step is to baste with some of the rum. And a couple spoonfuls every month it is stored. Gets better as it ages. This was my test cake, I will be making a couple more in the next week or so.
How long did you leave it in the oven? Cooking with an electric oven, I have it at 275 F for 3 1/2 hours. I am wondering if 500 F for the limestone might be better. If you trim the burnt from the sides and bottom, it probably will still be good to eat.
Yep, we are still eating it, I have to collect data on the cake. I don't think the stone temp is the stove temp. Think of it as the burner in an electric oven. I am shooting for the equivalent of a 375 degree oven, keeping in mind that the temp will fall as the cake cooks. So I have to figure out what temp I need to put the cake in that will have it baked 45 minutes later.
Well, it is going to be fun experimenting as you get to eat the results. I have a metal oven thermometer that I am going to use next time I bake in the wood boiler to get an idea of what the temperature is. For my previous experiments, I had no idea what the temps were. We were just going on how long the boiler had run. With how hot the refractory base gets, cooking only takes minutes not hours. I think the potatoes were the easiest to bake as you just put them back in if they weren't done.
Got the "oven" fired back up today, same piece of limestone. It's preheating now, about to mix up the batter. Shooting for 500 today since I decided I needed to increase the amount of batter to better match the pan.
Waiting to see the results. Would like to sample it too but I don't think it will survive our mail system.
I hear that they ship pretty well. This one is for thanksgiving on Saturday, so it won't be nearly as good as if I had aged it. Saturday night or Sunday I will get the ones for xmas and New Year baked.
Oh, and I just put it in the stove. Old lady tossed in a couple potatoes to bake as well. Going to check on the cake when the potatoes should come out in about 40 mins.
This time I ran out of heat and had to finish it in the electric oven. The increase in batter is probably responsible. Cake came out good, will try to remember to get a pic when I add more rum today.
I should mention that this cake is for our thanksgiving this Saturday. Planning to bake two more on Sunday for Xmas and New Years. Those ones will be more properly aged.
Sorry, I guess my suggestion of 500 F was too low. I was surprised last night when after quite a boiler burn, our potatoes took 35 mins to cook. I thought it would be quicker. They sure tasted good though.
I think it was the cake size that through me. The first time it was 1.5 x the normal recipe, this time it was 2x.
