Christmas Madness: The Fruitcake Frittata

Are you ready for an adventure? Because this is adventure. Come along with me now on a thrilling ride that will delight your taste buds, if you have any.

History

For those who scour every word posted in the PITs, you can skip the history. So can everyone else if they want. It's the recipe that matters, and that's coming down below.

But let us start with a bit of history from Ricochet. I am a big fan of fruitcake. But I also have celiac disease. Thus normal wheat-flour based fruitcakes are a very bad idea for me. It was a wonderful epiphany for me when I realized a way to use corn/maize instead of more typical flours. That was back in 2021, and the recipe is here.

Now, I also make a lot of omelettes. Again, when you can't eat bread, egg dishes happen. Need a way to heat up Thai leftovers and add a little protein? Fold those leftovers into an omelette. A few weeks ago, I decided to try something different. I made an upside-down omelette, throwing the Thai leftovers into the pan first, and then putting the cheese and egg mixture over that. It was a wild whim. I wanted something that seemed a little different from what I had done one too many times.

I announced my upside-down omelette in the PIT, and the inestimable @DeanMurphy asked, "Like a frittata?"

Well, no, it was not like a frittata. It was an upside-down omelette, and frankly, I would not advise trying it. But, a frittata was a good idea. I had not thought of those in ages. And that was how my frittata kick started. The first few, I tried making them in a smaller fry pan, but it did not have a lid that fit it. (Why do they sell three fry pans of different sizes with a lid only for the largest? Can anyone answer that?) Then, instead of trying the cover for the large skillet, I took a cover that was much closer in size from a sauce pan. Then, I thought, that sauce pan is pretty much the same size as the fry pan, only taller. I could make a frittata in that. And so I did, and I never looked back at the smaller fry pan. Making it in the sauce pan works perfectly.

Here I am today. I made a slightly too large batch of fruitcake this year, and it is wet and corn-based. If you let it sit in the fridge for too long, fungus will be growing very soon. I wrapped up and froze the larger muffin-style fruitcakes, but I also had the mini loaves. I have been eating them two per day, but I didn't want to leave them too long. I had four mini-loaves left. I needed to do something with them soon.

And then my overly creative mind misfired: fruitcake frittata? Why not?

The Recipe

Maybe dignifying this as a recipe might be getting a bit hoity-toity. Still, let's see what we have.

4 mini loaf fruitcakes (Size maybe 3" x 1-1/2" x 1/2")
3 eggs
2 T Heavy whipping cream
1 t cinnamon
2 t sweetener
Nutmeg
Olive Oil (frying)
Water (maybe)

I already had the fruitcake prepared. Bake some, cook some as I did, buy some from a store, or receive it as a present. The amount I used was probably about equivalent to two slices from a full loaf-sized fruitcake.

Add a tablespoon of oil to non-stick saucepan and turn heat to low.

Beat the eggs. Add the cream and beat some more. If the fruitcake is dry, beat in some water. It does not have to be too much, unless it's a fruitcake rock. Maybe a few tablespoons. Add the fruitcake by crumbling in. You may find that a potato masher comes in handy for mixing it into the egg mixture. (I did, but my fruitcake was wet and dense, and I put the four mini-loaves in whole. Don't be like me.)

Add cinnamon and sweetener and continue mixing the batter.

Pour batter into hot pan/pot. Wait thirty minutes, perhaps occasionally rotating the pot if you want to feel useful. Fritatta should be solid, even on top, with eggs fully cooked. Take off the cover. Put a plate that is larger than the pot in place of the cover. Invert pot and plate so that frittata gravitates to the plate.

Grate on a bit of nutmeg. Eat and enjoy.

Variations

That was pretty much how I made my lunch today. Feel free to vary it if you please. If you are a master chef specializing in frittatas, you may want to really measure the ingredients rather than eyeballing them as I do. You might also prefer other spices or none at all. Maybe, you even have a pan specifically for making frittatas. You could also brown the top of the frittata before serving, as some do. (In my case, the top becomes the bottom, and it is fully cooked.)

What else could you do with this?

Could you make a frittata with some other form of cake or bread in place of the normal potatoes?

Could you make other sorts of sweet frittatas?

What do you want to do with this, Ricochet?