In My Not So Humble Opinion

Archive for January, 2009

I’m convinced that The South is responsible for at least 50% of the annual sugar consumption, world wide. I base this on my own experience while vacationing in South Carolina and Georgia several years ago. (They also have the corner on hog fat, but that’s another subject.)

When I was in The South, everything that could be sugared, was. Anything that gets a “skosh” of sugar anywhere else in the US, would get a barrel full there. Case in point: Iced Tea. Great iced tea is brewed with fresh tea, to a clear amber. Great iced tea doesn’t need sugar. Good tea can be enhanced with a small amount.

Southern Sweet Tea recipes recommend using anywhere from 3/4 cup to 1-1/2 cups of sugar per pitcher. Most recipes recommend you make Simple Syrup so you don’t have any grittiness from the sugar. Use even amounts of sugar and water. Bring to a boil and immediately, cover and remove from heat. Let sit for 15-20 minutes, then add to the pitcher of tea.

Where am I going with this? Oh yeah, pralines.

Pralines are a very Southern treat. My daughter went to New Orleans with her boyfriend for the holidays, and returned with a box of Aunt Sally’s Original Creole Pralines. They bill themselves as “New Orleans Most Famous Praline.” Since I’ve never heard of them, I guess they’re famous mainly in New Orleans.

Because I’m game for unusual foods, daughter gave me one to try.

 

The first mistake I made was to read the Nutrition Facts. Candy should not have Nutrition Facts. If you’re concerned about nutrition, you shouldn’t eat candy. I looked anyway. One serving has 180 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 29 grams of Carbs (28 of those from sugar, what a surprise). On the plus side, they provide 2% of my daily requirement of Vitamin A and Calcium.

Ingredients include Sugar, Corn Syrup, and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Oh, and some pecans, evaporated milk, vanilla flavoring, and both margarine and butter.

I broke off a small piece and gave it a try. It was a strongly vanilla-flavored grainy sugar mass that dissolved quickly, leaving a greasy residue on the tongue with a piece of soft pecan. Not really bad, but definitely an acquired taste.

If you’re adventurous, check out Aunt Sally’s. They have all kinds of Louisiana foods that will satisfy any carb craving.

I think I’ll keep the rest of this praline on hand in case I ever have a hypoglycemic attack and need something to raise my blood glucose fast.

A lot of people contacted me about The Great Fruitcake Recycling Project. Most agreed with my position that fruitcake is a dangerous hazard to life, health, and the environment. The ones who disagreed told me in no uncertain terms that I didn’t know what I was talking about, fruitcake is wonderful, and I should stop this nonsense. Some even intimated that the only reason I didn’t like it was because I had never tried a “good” one. I scoffed at them, because clearly those were all prank emails. That was, until I heard from @TheGourmetGirl on Twitter.

@TheGourmetGirl’s real name is Elaine, and she has a website: Gourmet Girl Magazine, which is filled with all kinds of recipes, food reviews, and other wonderful food-related stuff. She asked me if I had ever tried Caribbean Black Cake. Since the answer was “no,” I checked out the recipe on her site. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page.)

Here’s what I found:
The recipe calls for dried fruit like figs, dates, apricots, cherries, and peaches – not those neon mystery bits
It uses an entire bottle of both Frangelico and Amaretto

I told her that I thought it might be the only edible fruitcake I’ve ever encountered. She offered to send me one, and I anxiously accepted her offer.

The package arrived yesterday. Per her advice, I opened it in a well-ventilated room. Very good advice. With the high alcohol content, I was surprised to find it wasn’t confiscated at the post office.

The box, before opening, smelled divine with all kinds of almondy alcohol goodness. I carefully unpackaged it from its bubble wrap, foil and plastic wrap, and the full aroma hit me. This was not my grandmother’s fruitcake.

Husband and I just looked at it for a moment. Then I challenged him to take a bite. Ever the skeptic, he wouldn’t, until I tried it first. I did, and it was wonderful.

My observations:
This is a very moist cake. Probably because it’s absolutely embalmed in alcohol. That’s a good thing.
The fruit is not only edible, it tastes like real fruit.
Each bite is an explosion of goodness in my mouth.
It doesn’t taste like “fruitcake” at all. Calling it fruitcake is an insult.

I decided that this cake would make an excellent breakfast food for New Year’s Day. I was right – you can’t eat this in the morning if you want to get any real work done. I started with a small piece. Then a bigger one. Then another, with whipped cream on top. By now, I’ve eaten more than half of the small cake, and I’m definitely tipsy. The rest will have to wait for tonight. It will be a long wait.

So there you have it. There is a cake, with fruit in it, that is not only edible, but absolutely wonderful. Just don’t call it fruitcake.