Fort Worth dessert pros get creative with ‘fruitcake-overs’

The cakeover artist: Stefon Rishel, executive chef, Max’s Wine Dive

The result: Fruitcake bread pudding French toast

It’s no surprise Rishel chose to morph fruitcake into French toast. The Max’s Wine Dive chef has built a reputation for his rotating French toast feature during the restaurant’s busy weekend brunch, which has included varieties like red velvet and tiramisu.

But instead of simply slicing and pan-frying, Rishel first builds a bread pudding out of fruitcake. A vanilla-flavored custard that serves as a binder helps create fluffier, more flavorful French toast slices.

• 1 quart heavy cream
• 8 egg yolks, lightly whisked
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Two 1-pound fruitcakes, cut into large chunks and left out overnight
• Butter, as needed for frying

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Bring heavy cream to a simmer in pot over low-to-medium heat. Do not boil.

2. Slowly temper cream into egg yolks, whisking constantly until thickened into custard. Add cinnamon, sugar and vanilla.

3. Pour custard over dried fruitcake chunks in greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and then foil. Bake in a water bath for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove and let rest until cool. Remove loaf from pan and slice.

4. To serve, fry slices in hot butter over medium heat in a skillet until crisp on each side. Serve with caramel sauce and a scoop of ice cream, if desired.

Nutritional analysis per serving, based on 6: 1,053 calories, 75 grams fat, 93 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams protein, 510 milligrams cholesterol, 321 milligrams sodium, 4 grams dietary fiber, 63 percent of calories from fat.

Max’s Wine Dive, 2421 W. Seventh St., Fort Worth, 817-870-1100, www.maxswinedive.com

The cakeover artist: Callie Salls Crawford, owner, Linguine and Dirty Martinis

The result: Holiday-spiced bourbon truffles

Personal chef Crawford repurposes the nostalgic fruitcake into beautiful treats that make great gifts for family, friends and neighbors. A splash of bourbon gives the rich truffles a flavorful finish.

“I wanted to tone down the fruitcake’s sweetness and give it more of a complex flavor profile,” Crawford says. The truffles can be dusted with sprinkles, colored sugar, finely chopped nuts or any finishing touch of choice.

Crawford used rainbow-colored sugar crystals, pinot noir sea salt and fresh-ground pink peppercorns for hers.

• 1 pound fruitcake
• 3 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
• Sprinkling of kosher salt
•  1/4 cup flaked coconut, sweetened
• 16 ounces fine white chocolate chips
• Coconut oil spray, for greasing
• Finishing toppings of choice, such as colored sugar sprinkles or specialty salt

1. Pulse fruitcake in a food processor until ground into uniform-size crumbs. Transfer to a medium-size bowl. Add bourbon and salt, and mix with a spatula until well combined. Cover bowl and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

2. Stir in flaked coconut to combine. Using a 1-ounce stainless scooper, scoop truffles onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll into uniform balls and chill 2 hours.

3. Melt white chocolate in a glass bowl in 15-second increments in the microwave, stirring between each increment, until chocolate has just melted. Carefully drop truffles into white chocolate in batches of 4 to 5 and coat completely.

4. Using a fork, transfer truffles to a baking rack greased with coconut oil spray to allow excess chocolate to drip off. Top truffles with finishing topping of choice. Let set for 10 minutes atop rack, then with a fork, carefully transfer to a greased and parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and chill for 30 minutes until chocolate sets. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Nutiritional analysis per truffle: 178 calories, 7 grams fat, 25 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 1 milligram cholesterol, 86 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 38 percent of calories from fat.

Linguine and Dirty Martinis, http://linguineanddirtymartinis.com

The cakeover artist: Sarah Hooton, cooking school manager, Central Market Fort Worth

The result: Almond chocolate gelato fruitcake terrine with salted caramel rum sauce

While she’s not a huge fan of fruitcake, Central Market’s Hooton does love gelato, so she combined the two in a layered terrine that uses fruitcake as a sturdy base. The ensemble is topped with a warm salted caramel rum sauce, which adds to the variety of textures and flavors.

“I thought this would be a fun and pretty easy dessert for entertaining,” Hooton says. “I’m a big fan of using different textures and tastes in my desserts — salty and sweet, cold and warm, crunchy and soft.”

• 1 quart Central Market almond gelato, divided
• 1/2 quart Central Market dark chocolate gelato
• 1 medium Central Market fruitcake, cut into  1/2-inch slices
• 10 ice cream cones, crushed into crumbs

1. Line a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a few inches of overhang on all sides.

2. Press half of the almond gelato in the bottom of the pan, filling about 1  1/2 inches. Freeze for about 15 minutes to firm. Spread all of the dark chocolate gelato on top, then freeze for another 15 minutes. Spread the rest of the almond gelato on top, leaving about 3/4 inch in the pan. Place the slices of cake on top. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap to cover. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

3. Remove from freezer and thaw for 10 minutes. Remove from pan by carefully pulling out the plastic wrap. Invert onto a serving dish with the fruitcake layer as the base. Coat the top and sides with the crushed ice cream cone crumbs, slice and serve with salted caramel rum sauce.

Salted caramel rum sauce

•  3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon high-quality sea salt, such as Maldon

1. Combine the sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook over high heat until sugar has dissolved. Make sure sides of the pot stay free of extra sugar or debris. Continue to cook until the sugar turns a deep amber color, swirling occasionally, but not stirring. It is important to not agitate the sugar too much as it will crystallize.

2. Once sugar reaches the amber color, remove from heat and add cream very carefully. (Return mixture to low heat if the sugar solidifies in order to melt it back down.) Add the remaining ingredients and gently stir until combined.

Nutritional analysis per serving, entire recipe, based on 8: 842 calories, 40 grams fat, 123 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams protein, 97 milligrams cholesterol, 411 milligrams sodium, 5 grams dietary fiber, 41 percent of calories from fat.

Central Market, 4651 West Freeway, Fort Worth, 817-989-4700, www.centralmarket.com

The cakeover artist: Julie Markley, owner, Gypsy Scoops Ice Cream Parlor

The result: Fruitcake ice cream sandwiches

“Fruitcake can be somewhat dry and dense,” says Markley, who opened Gypsy Scoops Ice Cream Parlor Riverside this year after selling her creamy creations from a food truck since 2012. “I thought cutting the cake in a thin cookie form with creamy ice cream in between would make for a moist, rich dessert. Adding ice cream to any dessert makes it more fun.”

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
•  2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup bite-size fruitcake pieces, plus 24 thin slices

1. Bring milk, heavy cream and sugar to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and add salt, cream cheese and vanilla. Return to heat and simmer one minute to thicken. Refrigerate or place mixture in an ice bath until cool.

2. Churn mixture in an ice cream maker until it is the consistency of soft-serve, then add bite-size fruitcake pieces. Spread ice cream in a baking pan and freeze overnight.

3. Use a cookie cutter to cut fruitcake slices into desired shape. Use the same cookie cutter to cut ice cream into 12 sandwich fillings. Place each ice cream filling between two fruitcake slices and serve.

Nutritional analysis per sandwich: 384 calories, 17 grams fat, 59 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 40 milligrams cholesterol, 276 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber, 37 percent of calories from fat.

Gypsy Scoops, 2905 Race St., Fort Worth, 817-357-6730, www.gypsyscoops.com