Review: Hermitage Big Sur Fruitcake

I ordered a 3 pound (!) loaf from the Hermitage Big Sur Bakery, associated with the New Camaldoli Hermitage, for the total cost of $38.91 with shipping. The packaging is quite eco-friendly looking and no tins are available:

And here’s a look at the loaf itself—unassuming and hefty, though not very elegant:

I believe they do a final dip into brandy before they ship it to you—it was very moist when it arrived, but has been getting less so as I’ve had it in my fridge. Let me tell you, three pounds is a lot to get through—I’ve had a few pieces but the rest are in the freezer.

This is a very good fruitcake, but there’s something in it that’s not my favorite. I may have identified the two culprits—raisins and walnuts. I’m not a big fan of raisins—I don’t like the sweet, grapey flavor that they add to, well, frankly, any dish they’re put into. Walnuts are a fine nut for eating, but they are a little bitter and although I don’t mind them in a cookie, I prefer pecans in my fruitcake.

That being said, if you don’t mind either of these, you’ll like this fruitcake. Ingredients include the standard “fruit mix,” as defined in the ingredients as cherries, pineapple, and citrus peels. There are margarine and vegetable gums but nothing else too bad in the ingredients, and on the good side, there are two alcohols listed—wine and brandy.

There are dates in this cake, which I normally like, but I think they are overpowered by the raisin flavor. The fruit was in pretty large chunks, and there was (yay!) a pronounced alcohol flavor to the cake. As mentioned earlier, it was very moist when I first received it, which was nice.

Let’s talk about a flavor in this cake that I call “burnt.” I think what I might be tasting is carmelization of the raisins in the batter. I checked the last two posts where I mention this burnt element, and both cakes contain raisins. It’s not my favorite flavor in a fruitcake, but apparently it’s not so off-putting that I’ve stopped eating the cake.

So in conclusion, this is not the most elegant cake I’ve purchased—it doesn’t come in a tin, and it’s a loaf, not round, shape. But it’s a nice, large, moist loaf with a very good flavor--if you don’t mind raisins--and I’d say it’s a good value.

Coming soon -- Swiss fruitcake!!

No, the last fruitcake didn't kill me--I've just been pretty busy preparing for a trip. I'm posting from the Zurich airport right now, and I have two cute little fruitcake type things I bought here in Switzerland nestled in my luggage right now. When I get back and get settled I have the previous fruitcake to review, then will talk a bit about these two. Fruitcakes aren't hard to find in Switzerland, evidently--certainly not in the Germanic part. It's part of their heritage, you know. I certainly wasn't seeking them out, I just happened upon them. At any rate, will post again soon. Tschuss!!

The next fruitcake's name is:

Thanks for the votes. I was leaning towards Holy Transfiguration Skete, and I still think I'll do that one, but I'm going to leave it to the end. They have a sampler that includes all six cakes that they create. Since four of their cakes are variations on fruitcake (traditional, dried fruit, sourdough, and Jamaican black, which a past commenter had brought to my attention), and the sampler contains one-pound versions of each, it seems like a good way to go. However, I don't feel like footing out the $80 to order it just yet. I think I'll leave that one to the bitter end, when we're more in the real fruitcake season--you know, the time of year when normal people order fruitcake. Six cakes at once--that might be the death of me.

In any case, I've decided on a write-in cake from commenter Brian: the fruitcake from Hermitage Big Sur bakery, from the Camaldolese Benedictine monks in Big Sur, California. First, it's a monastery fruitcake, always a favorite; second, it's only one fruitcake, not six; and third, I covet their location. Really, this is where they're located (from their website): "The Hermitage is located at Lucia, off the Pacific Coast Highway, (Highway 1) about 25 miles south of Big Sur village, 55 miles south of Monterey, and 85 miles north of San Luis Obispo." These monks picked a beautiful place to live.

It's on order. I was touched by how my order was completed; after the credit card information was finalized, you're taken to a page that shows the monks praying, with the message "The monks are prayerfully grateful for your order." Y'know, they're prayerful guys--why not reflect that prayerfulness in everything, even your e-commerce website?

(tap tap) Is this thing on?

(brushes cobwebs off the keyboard) Hi everybody! Well it's getting to be that time of year--fruitcake season is beginning soon. At least it is for me. Can you believe I still have at least 15 commercial fruitcakes to review?

I'd like to start with my first order in May. However, frankly, I'm not in the mood to pick my first one. So I'm going to leave it up to you, my faithful readers, to pick one for me to review first. I've listed below the ones I have on my list. Please put your preference in the comments section. And write-ins are welcome, too!!

Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Mary of Puddin Hill
Butterfield Farms
Krema
Holy Transfiguration Skete