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Truman Capote and Fruit Compote

by jill

My favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. If any movie embodies the spirit of season, this is it. It's an autobiographical account of Capote's childhood when he was a boy and lived in the country with relatives. It's set in rural Georgia, and is the story of him and his aunt who is also his best friend. Every Christmas they scrape together their pennies and buy the ingredients to make fruitcake to send to folks. These folks are not friends per se, but folks that have touched them in some way and those they admired--not people they know personally, or have even met. People like President Truman, the mailman, the bus driver who they waved to everyday,a couple from California they befriended when they broke down by their house, the missionaries from Borneo who were passing through. Geraldine Page as the auntis amazing. As the butt of jokes for many years, it’s hard to believe that fruitcake could hold the kind of appeal it does in this movie. So, in the spirit of fruitcake, here is a recipe for Stollen that appeared in our December issue. It’s a fruitcake of sorts that you'll love. There is also a recipe based on dried fruit, but in a compote not a cake. It is so refreshing and uses fresh oranges and grapefruit which are at their peak this time of year. It’s come to be one of my holiday traditions and tastiest Christmas memories.

Sam juicing clementines Compote

Five Fruit Compote

3 oranges or clementines sectioned and juice reserved
2 red grapefruits sectionedand juice reserved

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup yellow rasins
1/2 cup dried cranberries orcherries
1 cup dried apricots

In a saucepan dissolve thesugar in the water. Add the raisins, cherries and apricots, let stand 30minutes. Combine dried fruit mixture, oranges, grapefruit and reserved juice.Chill.

Stollen

Ingredients
Stollens:
8 cardamom pods
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk,scalded
1/2 cup yellow raisins
1 cup dried cherries
3 tablespoons dark rum ororange juice
2 (.25-ounce) packagesactive dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup sugar, divided
3 1/2 cups all-purposeflour, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) coldbutter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely gratedlemon rind
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup slivered almonds,toasted
10 ounces almond paste
Topping: 1/2 cup salted butter 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Place cardamom pods in asmall bowl. Add hot milk. Let stand 10 minutes.
Combine raisins andcherries with rum. Let stand.
Combine yeast, warmwater and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside until mixture foams, about 10 minutes.
Remove cardamom podsfrom milk. Squeeze pods open. Scrape small black seeds into milk. Discard pods.Stir milk into yeast mixture. Add 1 cup flour; beat well. Cover this mixture(called the “sponge”) with plastic wrap; let rise 30 minutes.
As the sponge rises,place 2 cups flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Add salt andremaining sugar. Pulse 6 or 8 times.
Drain fruits, reservingsoaking liquid. When the sponge is ready, add it to the processor; add lemonrind, egg and egg yolks, and soaking liquid from dried fruits. Process 20 or 30seconds, until dough is thoroughly mixed. Then, with a few quick pulses, mix infruits, almonds, and remaining ½ cup flour. Scrape dough, which will be quitetender, into a large oiled bowl, and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, punchdough down, and divide into thirds. On a heavily floured board, gently pull andpat each portion of dough into a 10 x 14-inch oval. Divide almond paste intothirds. Cover half of each oval, the long way, with bits of almond paste,patting with your hands (don’t worry about getting it neat). Fold the otherhalf of the dough over it, enclosing almond paste and making a pastry that is aplump half oval
Gently transfer toparchment-lined baking sheets, shaping if necessary. Let rise until dough ispuffy, though not quite doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake 20 to 30 minutes,until golden brown. Using 2 spatulas, transfer to a wire rack; cool about 10minutes.
Towards then end ofbaking time, place ½ cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whenbutter melts, lower heat and let butter cook until browned and fragrant, about8 minutes. Don’t stir the butter as it browns, but you can shake the pan alittle.
Spoon browned butterover the tops. Sift powdered sugar generously over tops. Let cool at least 20minutes, until sugar sets slightly. Serve, in thin slices, slightly warm or atroom temperature.