I grew up in a family of amazing cooks and my fondest memories revolve around being in the kitchen. Long before I decided to pursue a career as a chef, I knew what great food tasted like and how it truly inspired, I developed a love for cooking and baking and naturally had the knack for it. Baking is a science and a bit more technical, requiring a recipe with proper ratios, methods and cooking temperatures. My family’s dark fruitcake recipe has been passed down to me from my great-grandaunt but my mother tweaked it to absolute perfection. Every December we would take out her old recipe book with its fragile pages, cake batter spots and important little notes written all over it. I can vividly picture my mother and aunts gathered in the kitchen, laughing and chatting while my brother and I lingered and waited patiently to lick the spoon and wipe the bowl clean. Coincidentally, I still use the same wooden spoon today, some 35 years later, and I’ve even named it “Woody”. Along the way I’ve jazzed up the dark fruitcake a bit to add my style in its presentation, but I always follow Mom’s recipe to a T and call her every time I bake or have her right there with me. Even as a French classically trained chef I will not bake this one recipe without her guidance and input! I hope to continue this tradition of baking dark fruitcakes with my son and he’s already in the middle of all the kitchen action for his first Christmas.