German Fruit Cake

Every year for Christmas my mother-in-law makes a fruit cake that she and her mother-in-law used to make. To be honest, I’m not really a fan of fruit cake, but this one I truly do love! In fact, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit how much I ate this year! This recipe comes from my husband’s grandma’s mother, who came to the USA from Germany. Just like my family. Rich in German heritage. (In fact, a fun little side note, my grandparent’s on my dad’s side managed one of Amling’s flower shops in Forest Park, IL, just outside of Chicago after my grandpa retired from teaching. My husband’s dad’s uncle was the General Manager for all of the Amling’s stores and would have known my grandparents! What a small world!)

For Christmas 2019, we took our little family of five to Germany (and Austria, France and London)! We had been so looking forward to our first Christmas in the new house after our cross country move, but with the lightning strike/fire, we weren’t able to live in it, so we used this as an opportunity to pull a Christmas With The Kranks and “skip Christmas”. It was a trip of a lifetime, full of memories that we will all cherish for forever!…especially now, with world travel bans, it truly was a blessing in disguise, that we now realize! This was the view from our room in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany! A cobblestone road town nestled in the mountains of Bavaria.

So this year, now that we just moved back home, in the nick of time for Christmas, we are making the most of it and making it a very “family oriented” Christmas season. Full of hand-me-down family recipes, and spending time with the ones we love the most. … something that is so needed after a long and very trying 18 months.

Crock Pot Holiday Ham

For Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law and daughter made the very special fruit cake – and was one of the very first things to be baked in my new oven (that came the night before Thanksgiving!)

Happy baking my friends! Wishing you the merriest of seasons filled with delicious hand-me-down family recipes!

· In: Christmas, Featured Article, Holidays, Recipes