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Have Fruit-Loopy fun making cakeless fruitcake

When you ask your dinner host "What should I bring?" and the answer is " dessert" what do you make?

You do make something yourself, don't you?  Surely you'd never just pick up a case of  Hostess Cream-Filled  Cupcakes (the cupcake with the surprise inside) at Costco would you?  No, not you.  You'd make your own Hostess Cream-Filled  Cupcakes.  Here's how.  

In the past Nancy Leson's favorite things to make and bring have included her stolen recipe for tiramisuto apple pear galette to her present favorite – the fruit-goop concoction pictured above which to me seems a lot like a fruit cake without the cake. Or possibly some discarded parts from the Alien Autopsy (viewer discretion advised).

Nancy says this (the fruit, not the alien stuff) is good with ice cream.  Her husband Mac likes it mixed into his oatmeal.  She calls it Rum Pot and preparing it really is pretty easy.

Frutta Secca al Rum (Rumpot) - from “Italy: A Culinary Journey” Juice and rind of 4 oranges 1 1/4 cups sugar 10 cloves 1 cinnamon stick 4 cups water 2 1/2 cups (10 oz) dried apricots 2 1/2 cups (10 oz) dried pears 2 1/2 cups (10 oz) dried peaches 1 1/2 cups (10 oz) dried prunes 2 cups (10 oz) dried golden raisins 2 1/2 cups (10 oz) dried apple rings 2 1/2 cups dark rum Put the fresh orange juice, the (squeezed out) rinds, sugar and spices with the water in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil till it reduces slightly. Discard the rind and the spices and filter the liquid through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Add the dried fruit and mix together. Bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes and set aside to cool. When the mixture is completely cooled, pour in the rum, mix well and refrigerate in a large airtight jar. Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or as is. Note: If you store the rumpot for a couple months, the flavor will develop fully, but my jar never lasts that long!

"Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal since it will be the last thing your guests will remember before they pass out all over the table."

– William Powell

 

Dick Stein joined KNKX in January 1992. He retired in 2020 after three decades on air. During his storied radio career, he hosted the morning jazz show, co-hosted and produced "Food for Thought" with Nancy Leson and wrote and directed the Jimmy Jazzoid live radio musical comedies and 100 episodes of Jazz Kitchen.