Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (2024)

BY :Bebs | Published: | Updated: | 3 Comments

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5 from 3 votes

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This classic dark fruitcake is dense with glazed fruits and nuts with added dried fruits and dates. Enjoy it freshly baked or aged for some weeks or months.

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (1)

  • What is Fruitcake?
  • What liqueur to use?
  • How long does it last?
  • Printable Recipe
  • Simple Dark Moist Fruitcake

What is Fruitcake?

It is a cake made with candied and dried fruits and nuts with some spices added. It can be either alcohol-laden or alcohol-free.

In England, it is a tradition to have fruitcake as a wedding cake. The same is true in the US in earlier years. Normally covered in marzipan and then coated in white icing. Another tradition is for the couple to keep the top tier of their wedding fruitcake and save it for the christening of their first-born child. Later on, it also became popular to eat it for the celebration of the first wedding anniversary.

Not only for weddings, but fruitcake is also quite popular as Christmas cake in various countries. It is common to give it as a gift to friends or business associates.

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (2)

What liqueur to use?

Fruitcake may or may not be boozy. The types of alcohol that are commonly used are rum, brandy, red wine, whiskey orange-flavored liqueur. However, if you have kids or simply prefer the alcohol-free version, you may use fruit juices like apple, orange or cranberry. This is used for soaking the dried fruits to hydrate them and make them plump, or else you will end up with dry fruitcake. The liqueur is also used for brushing or basting them after baking to preserve the cake for a long time. It hinders the growth of molds or yeast.

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (3)

How do you keep it moist?

Boozy fruitcakes are usually aged for at least a week to several months. They are traditionally wrapped in a cheesecloth soaked with liqueur and sealed in plastic bags or tin containers. You can also just brush the cake with booze and wrap tightly. The cheesecloth should be resoaked in alcohol at regular intervals (weekly or monthly) to keep them moist and, well, boozy. Simply brushed and wrapped ones should be re-brushed more often, like every few days.

To prevent your fruitcake from drying out during the long baking, place a pan with water in the oven. Top it off once in a while. I do this all the time when baking cake and the result is very moist.

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (4)

How long does it last?

Well, apparently, there are some fruitcakes that are more than a hundred years old. Whether they are still palatable or even edible, is the question.

Alcohol-laden fruitcakes can last for years. The ones without alcohol in it do not keep as well as that of the boozy ones. They should be consumed in a couple of days after baking or up to 6 months if packed tightly and refrigerated. The same is true if fresh fruits are used as they bring in a lot of moisture to the cake that can cause the cake to spoil or for the pathogens to thrive.

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (5)

Printable Recipe

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (6)

Print Review

Simple Dark Moist Fruitcake

5 from 3 votes

This classic dark fruitcake is dense with glazed fruits and nuts with added dried fruits and dates. Enjoy it freshly baked or aged for some weeks or months.

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course :Dessert, Snack

Servings =24

Print Recipe Rate this Recipe

Ingredients

FRUITS

  • 1.5 cups glazed fruits
  • 1 cup dates chopped
  • 1.5 cups raisins
  • 1 cup dried fruits (like apricots, figs, cranberries, apples, pineapple)
  • 1 cup brandy or rum (SEE NOTE 1)

BATTER

  • 1.5 cups vegetable oil
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
  • ½ teaspoon all-spice
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ cup corn syrup
  • ¼ cup dutch process or dark cocoa powder
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup nuts (like cashew, walnuts, pecan or almonds) chopped
  • 1 cup water

TOPPINGS (optional)

  • maraschino cherries
  • whole dates
  • whole pecan or walnut

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients for fruits in a non-reactive bowl. Cover and let soak overnight. If you do not have the time to wait, place uncovered in microwave and heat until very hot. Cover and let it cool down and rest for about an hour.

  • Grease and flour pans and set aside (SEE NOTE 2). Preheat oven to 150°C/300°F.

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat brown sugar and oil with an electric mixer until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time while beating for 20-30 seconds after every addition.

  • Add the salt, cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg and corn syrup and mix. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Gradually add the flour, a cup at a time, combining each addition to the mixture well. Add the baking powder and mix again.

  • Slowly pour in water while mixing the batter. Then add the fruits including the liquids, if any, and the nuts. Mix well.

  • Spoon the batter into the prepared pans, filling each up to ¾ full. Decorate the top with maraschino cherries, dates and nuts as desired.

  • Arrange the pans on a baking tray and place it on the middle shelf of the oven bake for 80 minutes to 2 hours depending on the size of the pan. (SEE NOTE 3) Or until an inserted toothpick to the center of the cake come out clean.

  • Remove fruitcake from the oven. While still hot, poke cake with a skewer in several places. Brush or drizzle with rum or brandy.

  • To age or ripen, wrap them in cheesecloths soaked in rum or brandy (mostly damp but not dripping) and place them in a plastic bag or tin box. Let it sit for up at least a month re-brushing with the same liqueur at least once a week to keep them mist. If time is too short then age it for at least a week.

Notes

  • NOTE 1 - Use apple, orange or cranberry juice for non-alcohol version
  • NOTE 2 - This recipe makes 3 loaves of 8x4-inch pan OR 2 loaves of 9x5-inch pan.
  • NOTE 3 - 8x4-inch loaves will take about 75-90 minutes to bake while 9x5-inch about 2 hours.

Nutrition

Calories: 332kcalCarbohydrates: 62gProtein: 5gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 134mgPotassium: 245mgFiber: 3gSugar: 33gVitamin A: 75IUVitamin C: 0.9mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 2.2mg

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @foxyfolksy or tag #FoxyFolksyRecipes!

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Comments

    What do you think?

  1. Ronak Mehta says

    Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (19)
    Baked this cake for my birthday and it was an absolute hit! So moist and tasty. Thank you for doing what you do

    Reply

  2. rino says

    Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (20)
    hey. where in Manila can you buy the ingredients like the dried fruits?

    Reply

    • Bebs says

      Hi Rino, we are in Pampanga but for sure you can get most of them (raisins, dates, glazed fruits, cherries) in the many baking supply shops in Manila. The dried mixed fruits (apples, apricots, plums) we bought in S&R but should be also available in other supermarkets..

      Reply

Easy Fruitcake Recipe - Foxy Folksy (2024)

FAQs

What two ingredients help fruitcake last longer? ›

Fruitcake lasts longer than most other cakes because it is filled with nuts and candied fruit. It will last even longer if you sprinkle it with a spirit like brandy.

How do you wrap fruitcake in cheesecloth? ›

Wrap the cheesecloth around your fruitcake before wrapping it in a layer of foil. Once again, ensure your fruitcake and the foil do not come in contact with one another. Place your wrapped fruitcake in an airtight container and place all of that in the fridge.

How long should fruitcake be aged? ›

Fruitcake aficionados will tell you that the best fruit cakes are matured – or “seasoned” in fruitcake lingo – for at least three months before they are cut. Seasoning not only improves the flavor of the fruitcake, but it makes it easier to slice.

How did fruitcake get a bad reputation? ›

When commercial mass production of mail order fruitcakes resulted in dry bricks being delivered to people's homes as a last-minute Christmas gift. When Johnny Carson made his infamous joke on "The Tonight Show"about how there's only one fruitcake in the world and it's passed from family to family.

What alcohol is best in fruitcake? ›

Evenly pour 1.5 - 2 ounces of your favorite bourbon, rum, brandy, or cognac, over the fruitcake.

Can you eat a 10 year old fruit cake? ›

That said, even though a decades-old fruitcake might taste like a leather shoe, eating it probably won't make you dangerously sick.

What can you use instead of cheesecloth for fruitcake? ›

Since cheesecloth is cotton, other types of cotton fabric will work as a substitute. You can use a flour sack towel, pillowcase, bandana, scrap of fabric, clean cloth diaper, cloth napkin, or jelly bag to strain foods or contain little bundles of herbs.

Why is my fruit cake not dark? ›

If your fruitcake does not have the dark fruits like currants in it, and is not baked with a dark alcohol, there is one very popular ingredient that can give it its dark color, along with a distinctly robust flavor. That special ingredient? Molasses!

How far in advance should I make fruitcake? ›

Up to 7 weeks out (or as close as the day before): Bake your fruitcakes. Let the cakes cool, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store the cakes at room temperature until ready to gift or eat.

Is fruit cake edible after 100 years? ›

Even if you are ambivalent about the fruit cake, it has been part of Quebec holiday traditions for several generations.

Can you overcook fruit cake? ›

The top can overcook before the middle even gets started. The cake pan could be overfull. A full cake pan takes a lot longer to cook, and you can very easily end up with a cake that is both under, and over cooked.

How old was the fruitcake lady when she died? ›

Marie Rudisill died in Hudson, Florida, on November 3, 2006, at the age of 95, just before the publication date of her last book, Ask the Fruitcake Lady: Everything You Would Already Know If You Had Any Sense, on November 7.

Who is fruitcake celebrity? ›

Fred's Sirieix's fiancée is known affectionately as 'Fruitcake'. As Fred recalled on the show, he met her while walking down the street in Peckham and was captivated by her eyes and smile.

What ethnicity is fruit cake? ›

Fruitcake has European origins, easily traceable to the English “plumb” cake, filled with dried fruit and candied citrus, dense, heavy, and requiring long baking times. It came to America with seventeenth-century English colonists.

What makes fruit cake last so long? ›

What typically makes fruitcake last so long is its super dense texture. This texture prevents, let's say, less than appetizing things from setting up camp in the cake's crevices. Additionally, a lot of the ingredients in our fruitcakes are dried or glaceéd, so they don't contain much moisture.

What can I add to my cake to make it last longer? ›

For the home baker extending shelf life by a few days can be achieved by adding glycerine or golden syrup to the cake batter. If you type in the search box 'lengthening the shelf life of cakes' and 'shelf life' you'll see some answers there. Other preservatives are Sorbic Acid and Potassium Sorbate.

What can I use to make fruit last longer? ›

Just mix 1 part white vinegar with 3 parts water, dip your fruits and vegetables, and then wash them gently but thoroughly. Vinegar not only prevents mold buildup and rotting, but also helps get rid of pesticides on conventionally grown produce and fruit, and kills bacteria that could be clinging on your vegetables.

What is the best way to preserve fruit cake? ›

Master the art of storage by tightly wrapping your fruitcake in parchment paper and foil. Store it in a cool, dark place, allowing the flavors to intensify. To expedite the process, consider placing the wrapped cake in the refrigerator for a day or two, mimicking the effects of extended aging.

References

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