Your Fruitcake Probably Starts at Plant City’s Paradise Fruit Factory
Facts
Festive Holiday Fruitcake
Makes 1 large or 2 small fruitcakes.
• 1/3 cup bourbon or orange juice.
• 1 ½ cups Paradise Deluxe Fruit Cake Mix
• 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) Paradise Glacé Colored Pineapple Wedges
• 1 cup (8 ounces) Paradise Glacé Whole Red Cherries
• 1 cup (8 ounces) Paradise Glacé Whole Green Cherries
• 1 cup dried apples, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup pitted dates, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups currants or dark raisins
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 cup walnut halves.
• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup butter or margarine, softened
• 5 eggs
• 2 tablespoons dark molasses
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
Pour bourbon over combined fruits and nuts in large bowl; let stand 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Measure remaining ingredients into large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed until blended; beat at high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in fruit mixture. Spread mixture evenly in greased 12-cup fluted or angel cake pan, or 2 greased 6-cup fluted cake pans. Press mixture firmly into pan.
Bake in pre-heated 275-degree oven until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 3 to 3 ½ hours. Cool in pan on wire rack 20 minutes; invert onto wire rack and cool completely.
A delicious twist on classic chocolate chip cookies.
Whether besotted with brandy or rum, or sober as The Church Lady, a good many of these hefty, yuletide creations get their start in Plant City, of all places.
Yes, the city where strawberries get top billing happens to be home to the nation’s foremost manufacturer of candied fruit, the colorful cornerstone of many a fruitcake and a necessary ingredient in hot cross buns, panettone, biscotti and other baked goods.
Don’t think Paradise Fruit Company hasn’t attempted to candy, or glacé (pronounced glah-SAY), strawberries. But as one company official put it, the berry doesn’t have the structural integrity for long shelf life.
Instead, the company founded in 1962 by Frank Weaner, a Tampa Bay banker and entrepreneur, has adhered to tradition, making tons of candied citrus peel, a mainstay of holiday-themed recipes.
Besides Florida oranges, Paradise candies and dyes Italian lemons and citrons, Asian pineapples and ginger. It also purchases cherries that already have been processed with corn sweeteners, then packages them with its other products.
The company touts itself as the world’s largest candied fruit manufacturer, selling products under several brands, including, Paradise, Pennant, Sunripe and Dixie Brand, as well as serving a number of private-label customers like Wal-Mart, Kroger, Food Lion and Safeway.
Guess who supplies Claxton Bakery, Inc., the Georgia company that has become synonymous with over-the-top, more fruit than cake, fruitcake?
“Claxton is one of our longtime customers. I believe they buy close to a million pounds of product from us (each year),” said Tracy Schulis, senior vice president of Paradise Inc., a $24 million corporation with divisions that candy fruit and manufacture plastic containers.
Speaking by phone from Toronto while on a business trip last week, Schulis, who married into the Weaner family that still owns Paradise, said the company is working to escape the seasonal stereotype by wooing younger customers on Facebook. And they’ve created an interactive website with recipes that even a Millennial might enjoy.
How about macadamia nut bars made with refrigerated cookie dough, chocolate chips, coconut and pineapple wedges the color of creme de menthe? Or Rice Krispies treats using chopped red and green cherries?
Paradise also has a new line of dehydrated candied fruit snacks called thinkfruit, featuring peaches, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apple and pineapple.
“With technology changing, the age demographic on the hits at our website (www.paradisefruitco.com) are from younger people, mid-20s to mid-40s,” Schulis said. “They’ve seen their mom using it (candied fruit). We’ve tried to incorporate simple, everyday recipes on our containers, in addition to the traditional holiday recipes.”
Fruitcake sales spiked here and abroad earlier this year after it was revealed that Kate Middleton and Prince William ordered for their wedding an eight-tier confection made with candied and dried fruits, fresh citrus zest, tamarind, crystallized ginger, almonds and walnuts.
Question is, will that royal cache translate to a long-lived surge in candied fruit sales? Schulis remains hopeful, and even sells his product on Amazon.com.
“(We’re) getting out the word on how to use our product,” he said, “and we’re attempting to get a younger customer base by using social media.”
Candying fruit is a preservation technique that’s been around for centuries. The process at Paradise involves numerous steps of slow-cooking fruit at various temperatures no higher than 180 degrees over three weeks, said Chris Stafstrom, plant manager.
Instead of cane sugar, the company uses corn sweeteners to make a syrup that infuses fruit, turning it almost translucent in the cooking process. Typically, the fruit is prepared and shipped well in advance of the holiday season. At its peak, the plant employs up to 140 workers, with a core group of 60 employees who work year-round.
Some last-minute orders kept things busy last week inside the 240,000-square-foot plant, where men and women in hair nets mixed and packaged the various combinations of candied fruits destined for baked goods at Publix Super Markets and other customers.
“We’re like the elves on Christmas Eve,” Stafstrom said. “We’re kind of done.”
[ Ledger Reporter Eric Pera can be reached at [email protected] or 802-7528. ]
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