Nancy Durbin jumped heart-first into fruitcake making and baking this year.
The Anderson home-based baker was asked last year to create a homemade, old-fashioned fruitcake, but she decided not to take the challenge. Durbin felt differently about it this holiday season so she added the fruitcake to her recipe repertoire.
Fruitcake is a unique tradition. Durbin finds people either really love fruitcake, or despise it.
For those fruitcake-loving friends, Durbin researched and took her own take on a good recipe.
The process is a little slow. It can't be hurried. Durbin has the patience to see the baked concoction of fruits, nuts and brandy finished.
Word has gotten around and orders have spiked. Durbin baked a dozen fruitcakes and was just hoping to sell those. Now, she has 30 standing orders.
"I'm busier than I need to be," she said, laughing.
Helping Others
Durbin worked as a nurse for years, serving in a hospital setting, urgent care, heart care and more.
She's always turned to baking as a way to nurse herself through stress.
"When you can't sleep, you get up and bake," she said.
She loves to bake pies, cookies -- and now fruitcakes -- for others.
"I love to share what I do," she said. "My boyfriend said, 'I can only eat so much!'"
Durbin has since quit working 12 hours a day as a nurse. Her way of taking care of others is now creating some baked goods that bring home a great level of comfort.
"I hear a lot of people say, 'I love homemade pie.' They're so appreciative for something homemade."
The key to making the fruitcake -- which differs from pies and cookies -- is the time-involved. The process involves a great deal of pre-planning. Making sure she has quality fruits and nuts -- and brandy -- is critical to the process.
She utilizes dried fruits such as pineapple, cherries, apricots, figs and dates.
She bakes the bread like a banana bread loaf. After the bread has cooled, she soaks a cheesecloth in brandy and wraps the bread.
Soaking the bread prolongs its life and keeps it fresh, she said.
Durbin soaks the bread every two days before the customer picks up the fruitcake so it won't dry out, she said.
The ingredients, in addition to the brandy, are kind of expensive to use for the fruitcake. Durbin, however, has figured in those costs and enjoys baking an age-old traditional concoction to which people seem to be flocking.
"People say, 'That's a lot of work.' If you looked at it that way, you wouldn't have done it at all. I'm just glad I'm able to do it. It's a labor of love."
Taking Care of Others
Durbin is one of seven sisters who grew up baking and helping others.
"I got interested in making the fruitcake because I thought, 'Why not?' Everything we made was homemade. We made trays. We might not have the money to give them a gift, but we could make them fudge and bake some cookies and take them to somebody's house. That's just what we did."
Part of that heritage was lived out during her nursing career when she focused on her patients' care.
"You want them to feel that we were taking care of them," she said.
With home-crafted goodies, Durbin feels she extends that love and care to others.
People appreciate her hard work. Sometimes, people even give her more than she charges.
"People say, 'This is like my grandma used to make.'"
Durbin channels her energy for helping people into her creations, helping busy people enjoy some homemade baked goods.
Her experiment this year with the fruitcake has paid off.
The customer who asked her last year to make the fruitcake tasted the first one of the season.
"He said it was excellent," Durbin said, laughing.
That launched her into a fruitcake-baking frenzy. The response has been fast-tracking.
"People are so excited. They say, 'I can't believe you're doing that. I can't wait!'"
General News on 12/12/2019