World’s Best Fruit Cake
If you recognize today’s dessert, you deserve a pat on the back!
As hard as it is to believe, I first shared this fruit cake recipe back in 2013. It has been a holiday staple in our household for as long as I can remember. Christmas isn’t Christmas without several slices of my mom’s famous fruit cake!
Nearly six years have passed and since then, it has become one of the most popular holiday recipes on A Beautiful Plate.
If you’re a fruit cake cynic, hear me out! This is the best fruit cake in the world – and the only fruit cake that I’ve ever loved and enjoyed.
While this recipe has received rave reviews and become a staple for many readers, I’ve teamed up with All-Clad to showcase their new Pro-Release Bakeware Set and Silicone Tools, and give this fruit cake recipe a new and improved update for the holiday season.
This fruit cake recipe features their All-Clad Pro-Release Loaf Pan. All of the All-Clad Pro-Release bakeware pieces feature oversized, easy-to-grab handles, and a nonstick (PFOA-free) finish that releases baked goods effortlessly.
This fruit cake batter is sticky and packed with dried fruit pieces, which means that it can be prone to sticking, and thanks to the ceramic, easy release coating, I didn’t have to grease or line the loaf pan with parchment paper. The fruit cakes just slid out without issue. The holidays are hectic enough without worrying about your baked goods sticking!
If you’re looking for durable and high-quality bakeware for yourself (or to gift to others!), I highly recommend checking out the full All-Clad Pro-Release Bakeware Set! You can get more information here.
All-Clad also came out with a wonderful collection of silicone tools that pair with the bakeware set. Their durable handles and platinum silicone heads, which come in a variety of shapes, are great for any baking project (or savory preparation) and have quickly become my favorite baking tools.
The bones of the original fruit cake recipe have remained the same, but it has been re-tested thoroughly.
Several ingredients have been revamped and simplified to make it easier to prepare in your own kitchen.
I’ve also added custom metric measurements to make it accessible to everyone. As you know, I’m a huge advocate for baking scales, particularly for baking. It reduces clean-up and common user errors, such as over measuring flour.
Let’s get baking!
Why You’ll Love this Fruit Cake Recipe:
The words ‘world’s best’ and fruit cake are generally not seen as compatible with one another. After all, fruit cake is one of the most ridiculed baked goods in existence!
You know those ones that are sold in the stores or sent as gifts at this time of the year? The ones that contain the neon candied fruit pieces? I despise those fruit cakes too!
Most fruit cakes are dry, overly sweet, and bland in flavor.
This fruit cake is not your average fruit cake recipe. It is the BEST! Made with wholesome, real ingredients, this fruit cake is moist and perfectly balanced in flavor.
The Story Behind The World’s Best Fruit Cake:
This fruit cake recipe has been passed onto me from my mom. It was first inspired my British grandmother’s recipe. My mom has tweaked and perfected it over the years.
At one point, my mom even attempted a very short-lived fruit cake business – that is until she realized that it is one of those expensive desserts to make (dried fruit and booze!) and she would have to charge a fortune to break even.
With that said, this fruit cake is absolutely worth it!
How to Make The Best Fruit Cake:
This fruit cake recipe, which yields two standard loaf cakes, is all about the dried fruit. We’ll be using only unsweetened dried and fresh fruit for this recipe.
This fruit cake contains a ton of dried fruit. Don’t be alarmed! This recipe uses a wide variety of tart and sweeter dried fruit: golden raisins, dark raisins, figs, prunes, cherries, apricots, and peaches.
To cut the sweetness and add amazing flavor, we’ll soak the dried fruit mixture in dark rum the day before baking. Note: I recommend soaking the fruit for a minimum of 12 hours or as long as 24 hours.
The dried fruit will hydrate and plump up and soak up all of the dark rum during this time. Don’t skip this step!
The soaked dried fruit is folded into the fruit cake batter the following day.
For added flavor, we’ll also be adding orange and lemon zest, orange juice, fresh grated Granny Smith apple, slivered almonds, and diced crystallized ginger (one of my favorite additions!).
You can even add bittersweet chocolate, which is my dad and sister’s favorite variation!
The fruit cake batter is transferred and divided between two loaf pans and baked in a loaf tin at a low temperature for nearly an hour and a half.
If you’re using the loaf pan I’m using from All-Clad, no need to grease the pan or add any parchment paper!
Since this cake has a such a large ratio of dried fruit, we’ll allow the fruit cakes to cool completely in the loaf pans before removing them.
How to Store Homemade Fruit Cake:
After the cakes have cooled, we’ll wrap them tightly in cheesecloth soaked in medium sherry or triple sec. Have I mentioned that this cake is boozy? Because it is.
This step contributes additional moisture, as well as allows the flavors in the cake to meld and deepen over time. The alcohol cuts sweetness and makes this cake so fragrant and delicious!
Some people recommend aging fruit cake for at least a month prior to serving or gifting, but this is not required for this fruit cake. I recommend at week at minimum. However, even just a few days make a huge impact!
These fruit cakes can be stored in the refrigerator for 6 to 8 weeks (or longer!). I recommend re-soaking the cheesecloth every week or so, or whenever it is dry.
Commonly Asked Fruit Cake Baking Questions:
When Should I Starting Baking Fruit Cake?
Since this fruit cake only improves in flavor as it sits, the sooner the better. I recommend wrapping it with cheesecloth (soaked in alcohol) for one week, at minimum, for best flavor.
Can I substitute or use other types of dried fruit?
I’ve included my favorite ratios in the recipe below – as they offer a good balance of tart and sweeter fruits – but you can adapt it to make it your own. If making substitutions, I highly recommend measuring by weight to avoid any issues.
How Many Servings Does This Recipe Make?
This cake yields two loaf cakes. Perfect for keeping one to yourself and another for gifting (or saving for later, your personal choice!).
Since this cake is very dense and rich, one loaf cake goes a long way. We use a serrated knife to cut it into thin slices or cut regular slices in half. It tastes fantastic on its own or with a smear of salted butter!
Can I bake this fruitcake in a smaller loaf tins, round cake pan, etc.?
This cake has only been tested using loaf pans, but several readers have had luck with this. Please know that baking times and results will vary. I do not recommend making equipment substitutions, as I cannot personally say whether they will work!
Hope this fruit cake recipe becomes a family staple! If you enjoyed the recipe, I’d love for you to leave a review in the comment section below.
Thank you All-Clad for sponsoring this post!
World's Best Fruit Cake
A traditional moist fruit cake made with rum soaked dried fruit, citrus zest, and candied ginger. The best fruit cake recipe you’ll ever make! It turns cynics into converts. This fruit cake recipe yields 2 loaf cakes. Wrap in sherry or triple sec soaked cheesecloth for at least a week for best flavor!
Ingredients
Soaked Fruit Mixture:
- 1 and 1/4 cups (200 grams) dark raisins
- 1 and 1/4 cups (200 grams) golden raisins
- 2 cups (320 grams) mixed unsweetened dried fruit, chopped (note: I used equal parts peaches and apricots - pears or apples are other great options!)
- 1 cup (160 grams) dried unsweetened black figs, chopped
- 1 cup (160 grams) dried unsweetened tart cherries, chopped
- 3/4 cup (120 grams) dried unsweetened prunes, chopped
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces; 180 mL) dark rum
Fruit Cake Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 stick (4 ounces; 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (160 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup (120 mL) freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, and coarsely grated
- 3/4 cup (90 grams) slivered almonds (or chopped pecans or walnuts)
- 3 tablespoons (36 grams) finely diced crystallized ginger
- one batch soaked fruit mixture (see above)
- optional add-in: 2/3 cup (100 grams) chopped bittersweet chocolate or dark chocolate chips
For Storage:
- medium sherry or triple sec
- 2 large pieces of unbleached cheesecloth, for wrapping
Decorative Glaze (Optional):
- 1/4 cup (72 grams) apricot preserves
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) water
- whole pecans, for garnishing
Instructions
- The Day Before Baking: Combine the dried fruit in a large mixing bowl. Add the dark rum, cover, and allow the mixture to soak at room temperature for a minimum of 12 hours, or ideally 24 hours prior to preparing the fruit cake batter.
- Prepare the Fruitcake: Preheat the oven to 300F (150C) with a rack in the center position. Set aside two 8x4-inch All Clad Pro-Release Bakeware Loaf Pans. If using these pans, you do not need to line or grease the pans prior to adding the batter. Equipment Note: This fruitcake can also be prepared using 9x5-inch loaf pans. If using other types of pans, lightly grease and line with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and light brown sugar together over medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Reduce speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating just until each egg is incorporated. The mixture will look slightly broken, that’s ok.
- Over low speed, slowly add the flour mixture until just absorbed. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Add the lemon zest, orange zest, fresh orange juice, grated apple, slivered almonds, diced candied ginger, soaked dried fruit mixture (with any liquid if it hasn’t already been absorbed), and chocoate (if using). Stir mixture with a large spatula, scraping the edges and bottom of the bowl several times, until all of the ingredients are evenly incorporated. It is a very thick, fruit heavy mixture.
- Transfer and divide the batter evenly among the loaf pans. Use an offset spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer. Set the loaf pans on the center rack, several inches apart from one another. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway, or until the cakes have set. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool completely before removing from the pans.
- Storing and Aging: Once the cake has cooled, carefully remove the cakes from the loaf pans and set upright. Soak two large pieces of cheesecloth in medium sherry or triple sec (*they should be lightly damp, not soaking wet when you wrap the cakes, so you may need to squeeze out any excess liquor). Wrap each cake tightly. Cover loafs with wax paper and foil before transferring to a large Ziploc bag. Store in the refrigerator for up to 6 to 8 weeks. You can serve this cake right after it has cooled, but the flavors improve greatly with time (a few days or up to a week, at the least, is my recommendation). Unwrap and re-soak the cheesecloth once a week.
- For Garnishing: If desired, you can top the fruitcake with a light apricot glaze and whole pecans before serving. Note: This is not recommended if you’re planning to continue to wrap and age the fruitcake. Combine the apricot preserves and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a light simmer, stirring until the glaze is shiny and thin. If it is too thin for glazing, reduce to desired consistency. If it becomes too thick, add a teaspoon of water. Brush the tops of the fruitcakes with apricot glaze and garnish with whole pecans.
- Serving Notes: Slice fruit cake with a serrated knife. Serve on its own or spread with a small amount of salted butter.
Notes
Tips for Success:
- Be sure to use unsweetened dried fruit for best results.
- Several readers have had success substituting different varieties of dried fruit in this recipe; if doing this, please keep in mind the tartness and sweetness of various fruits for good balance.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 40 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 196Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 58mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 2gSugar: 26gProtein: 3g
A Beautiful Plate provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietician.
This looks and sounds amazing (and your photos are gorgeous!). Fruitcake totally gets a bad rap — though yes, those neon-colored fruits and other weird bits do scare me. I would be all over this, though. What a lovely tradition!
Thank you so much!! This one has none of the weird stuff, promise.
Do you have to use parchment paper? If so HOW do you put it in the pan?
Hi Laura….
Can you substitute apple sauce for the fresh apple, and if so, how much? I just picked a batch of wild apples and need to use the resulting apple sauce in whatever way I can.
Hi Dee! Unfortunately I don’t think that’s a good substitute in this case – the texture and moisture level is just very different, and it wouldn’t serve the same purpose. You’d be better off just omitting the apple altogether. There are lots of cake recipes that call for apple sauce though, so maybe that’s the right way to use the leftover applesauce. Thanks for your question!
Do you recommend aging the cake in the fridge or does it need to age outside of the fridge? I’m just thinking there is less chance of mold in the fridge.
No, it is supposed to be stored in the fridge! I cover that in the instructions, it would probably be fine in a cold cellar (who has those these days? 😂) but definitely go with fridge. Hope this helps!
Hi Laura,
Have you ever made a gluten free version or is that even possible?
I haven’t personally, but I think a 1:1 gluten free substitute flour (like Bobs Red Mill or Cup4Cup) would probably work. Unfortunately I haven’t tested it, so I can’t quite say the change in texture but I don’t see why it would cause a huge amount of problems.
My fruits are in dark rum soak mode!!! I am using three types of nuts, 2 oz each slivered almonds, chopped walnuts and pecans. Will be using Sandemans med dry sherry after they come out of oven tomorrow and for the next few weeks. I do not have a mixer so I have already put my husband on standby to do my stirring tomorrow. He already said he is not waiting 6-8 weeks to have some, Christmas morning is Fruit cake D-Day!!!! Thank you for a gorgeous recipe and tell your mum, thank you, too!! Merry Christmas!
it will be interesting to see if anyone makes this:)
Making it now, because it will be moist and boozy, better than any cake I’ve tested.
Seems like you really tested the formula . I’m hoping for a dark Rich fruitcake loaded with fruit. Probably make a giant one in a tube pan. Age for 6 weeks in my cool garage. Cover up with marzipan and royal icing.
I am wondering about the ratio of eggs, five. Seems like a lot. What is the purpose of so many eggs, besides the usual things that eggs do to cakes.
Thank you very much.
Poor fruit cake, it gets such a bad rap. But yours looks amazing! Way better than those horrible store bought ones. Cannot get over how beautiful these pictures are Laura : )
It really does. Poor fruit cake. Thanks so much for the compliments Natalie! Means a lot.
Wow your photos are beautiful!! I have never tried to make a fruit cake, but this one actually sounds and looks really great! I should finally attempt to do one!
If you’re ever gonna try one, definitely make sure it’s this one. Thanks so much!!
I think this can also be called “the world’s most beautiful fruitcake!” So pretty. Honestly, I’ve never even had it, but you’re making me want to try it!
If you ever try fruitcake, definitely make sure it’s homemade!! 🙂 Thank you!!
These photos are amazing, Laura (although, they’re always pretty darn great!)!!!! I’ve never actually had fruitcake. This may have to change sometime soon.
Aww, thank you Kelli! Means a lot. Glad to know I wasn’t the only person who couldn’t make the twitter party–we’ll have to reschedule another time! 🙂
I have yet to try fruitcake, actually… unfortunately with all its glorious boozy-ness I have to miss out again this year, but I’m making next year the year I finally try fruitcake! Starting with this recipe. 🙂
Yep, it’s pretty boozy, you might want to skip it this year, haha. Thanks friend!
My family are all about the British Christmas too! No-one’s British though, so I guess it’s pretty random. This fruitcake looks awesome.
Hahaha! But your Australian, so it’s not weird at all 😉
I love fruitcake. I was raised on it! My grandmother insisted that we eat a piece or two every Christmas when we visited. She said we’d have a “happy year” for every piece we ate 🙂 I guess after a while, I actually started liking it. Yours looks absolutely perfect. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
I’m going to start telling myself that…that will make me feel much better about consuming the entire loaf. Glad to know there is a fellow fruitcake fan out there.
Thank you!!!
Laura! Thanks for the lovely write-up and beautiful photos of our fruitcake! It looks as though you may have made some coverts! Yeah! You made it look so pretty! Let’s see if I can make ours look even half as lovely as this one! I guess you didn’t want to tell them about the marzipan and royal icing bit!!!! Butter as well…. Wow!
Thanks mom! And I don’t like royal icing or marzipan–so I definitely left that out for a reason, haha.
This fruit cake looks amazing! And I am preparing to make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One question though, is it always necessary to refrigerate this recipe, as I have made fruit cake in the past and always sealed and covered in a rum soaked cheesecloth in a cool place. I want to make plenty for gift giving and there’s no room in the refrigerator. Oh the dilemma, haha.
So sorry for only just getting back to you. Honestly, my mom is the expert at fruit cake (not me, ha!), but I do believe it would be fine if it was kept in a very cold area, especially if it was consumed in a relatively quick amount of time. I don’t think it has to be refrigerated because of the alcohol, but I just like to say that to be safe. Hope this helps!
Fact: I have never actually had fruitcake, but with all the booze and fruit together and I thinking I would love it! Thinking i need to make this for big family Christmas (am I do mean big, 20+). Oh and Gorgeous photos!
Woh! That is definitely a big Christmas. We have 9 and that feels big sometimes.
Umm… I love you moms comment!! Haha! So cute!!
And geez!! This fruitcake it the most gorgeous ever! Love the photos and am thinking it is finally time to actually try some fruitcake this year. All the booze in this one has me thinking it will be awesome!
My mom is ridiculous. She is still getting the hang of leaving comments–for a while she thought she had to put her full name in the “contact” form. Haaa! Thanks Tieghan!!
Wow Laura… this looks amazing and I’m SO all about soaking dried fruit in rum. Now I want fruitcake {there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say}… Big thanks to your mom for making fruitcake edible!
She’ll love to hear that!! Thanks so much Lauren 🙂
This looks fantastic. My husband is one who likes fruitcake, he will love this I’m sure. You photos are lovely.
Thank you so much Norma!!
Hi I have recently come across this beautiful fruit cake I too have never liked fruitcake but I’ve actually made too they are currently in a cool dry place sucking up all that boozy goodness I made them in Bundt pans and they’ve turned out beautiful thank you so much
I love how much fruit you’ve got in this cake…and the fact that it’s been soaked in rum makes it sound extra delicious! I’m pinning now!
Yes. Tons and tons of dried fruit!! That’s why it’s definitely worth making a few loaves at a time (this recipe makes two). Thank you Caroline!!
I’m one of the people who think it wouldn’t be Christmas without baking a fruitcake. Your cake looks and sounds wonderful.
Yes!! You and me both. So glad to hear I’m not alone in that. Thank you Karen!
I have always been a fan of fruitcake, and this recipe looks excellent! Thanks for sharing!
Well, I happen to be a fruitcake lover, and this one is so similar to my family’s plum pudding! I love it, and will definitely try it. When the weather is cooler, mind you. It’s summer here, and averaging 95º to 100º every day, so the oven is out of bounds. But give me a ton of dried fruit in a dessert and I’m happy!
This will be my first time attempting fruitcake making. Your recipe looks delicious. A question about soaking the cake. Recipe says to soak cheesecloth once a week in sherry. Could you soak in triple sec? Thanks. looking forward to enjoying this.
YES! You could definitely use a good quality triple sec, or even Grand Marnier (if you feel like splurging). I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Hi – I would like to know which alcohol tastes the best for wrapping the fruit cake. Also why isn’t the rum used to wrap it. Thank you
It really depends on your taste preference – if you enjoy triple sec (orange), that might be for you! If you love sherry than you might prefer that option. I like both equally, but tend to lean more towards the sherry.
Rum isn’t used for wrapping because its incredibly alcoholic/dry and honestly just doesn’t taste incredible for that type of application (where it’s not cooked off). It is simply to hydrate the fruits and then the alcohol cooks off in the baking process – technically you could use other alcohols for that part of the recipe if you prefer.
Hi — looking for a fruitcake to make as part of this year’s holiday gift baskets. This recipe looks AMAZING! But I would like to make into smaller, 3×6 loaves?
Advice on expected yield & modification to baking instructions please? Thank you!
Cant WAIT to try this!
T
Hi Tanya! Thanks for your comment! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried to make this recipe in 3×6 loaf pans, so I really don’t have any explicit baking instructions that I can offer. On that note, my GUESS is that it would make four loaves of that size. I would recommend baking at the same temperature as the original recipe, but it will probably only take 30-45 minutes for loaves of that size. Again, this is all pure speculation, so I can’t guarantee anything, but that is my educated guess! Please report back if you try it! Thanks again!
54 minutes baking time for the mini-loaves!
Hello Laura. This cake seems very good.
I have an old recipe that mother said won
Some prize in 1945! It does have the crystalized
Fruits , and cocoa. Plus melasses and rum or
Brandy. Almonds, pecans & walnuts. Figs and
Dates and a few spices. We soak it and keep
It just the way you do. And We love it!
OMG this is sooo beautiful! Fantastic blog and absolutely stunning pictures! So glad that I found ya! Following!
Thank you so much Mila!
I haven’t given this recipe of your’s a shot yet, but from the looks of it, I think I’ll be making it and finishing it as soon as it is out of my oven. Truly looks like the worlds best fruitcake. I happened to try out another recipe of eggless fruitcake from a Prestige SmartChef website and it looked quite similar. Keep it up Laura.
This cake is awesome … I’ve made it three years in a row for my husbands birthday. Every year when I make it though – I forget to add the nuts and ginger as they are listed in the ingredients, but not added in in the instructions. This year I remembered and thought I might tell you so that you can change it for others. My cake is in the oven as I type this …. Thanks for an awesome recipe … I get so many compliments on it
Hi Leah! Thank you so much for your comment, I’m so glad you’re such a fan of this fruitcake! I’ll have to tell my mom! 🙂 I’m so sorry about the recipe instruction error, I just fixed it now–this is what happens when you don’t properly proofread a family recipe. I really appreciate you letting me know!
I made this cake to see if it would be suitable for my husband to take tramping (hiking). It is way too delicious – I sent him off with something else and kept the cake here at home. Thanks for the recipe – this will be my ‘go-to’ fruit cake recipe.
Hi Laura,
I have a few questions about this recipe. I’m making it for my father-in-law’s birthday, because he loves fruitcake. But he likes it with marzipan and icing (traditional British–I live in the UK). I would assume I could just add that after baking? Also, since it’s a birthday cake, I would like to make it round instead of into 2 loaves. Could I just use the same amount of batter that you’ve divided into 2 pans and put it into one large round cake pan? Any idea on cooking time and temperature if I did that?
And finally, is 6 ounces of rum 6 liquid ounces? I’m assuming so, but I’ve cut up all the dried fruit ready for soaking and it’s LOADS–I just don’t think 6 liquid ounces will come close to soaking all of it, given that 6 ounces is less than 1 cup! But maybe the rum isn’t really supposed to soak all the fruit? I’ve never made fruitcake before so not quite sure. Thanks! 🙂
Eek! Thanks so much for your comment and questions. I have to say, my mom is the pro at making fruit cake, so I am not experienced enough in making it to know if it could be adapted into a traditional round cake form. Personally, I think this particular fruitcake recipe isn’t as ideal for that, because it is SO LOADED on fruit (and it could potentially break if it’s not in a loaf form). Yes! 6 ounces is 6 liquid ounces. It is a TON of fruit, but you also end up soaking the baked fruitcake afterwards in booze, so in that sense it gains more moisture. I’m going to ask my mom to see if she can help with your question, but unfortunately I’m traveling at the moment so it could be a few days!
I see, Joanna, that I’m not the only one thinking about the holidays already!
My question for Laura is about the Sherry – it comes in all types of sweetnesses. I am assuming you use a sweet sherry for this recipe?
And I think from your other posts you find brandy to be an acceptable substitute?
I’m going to ask my mom (pro about the fruit cakes) and get back to you, as it has been a while since I made this. I’m almost positive it is a medium sherry (not dry but definitely not the sweetest either–and definitely not cream sherry!). I’ll be in touch soon!
I’m so excited! I just finished my first fruitcakes and have them in the refrigerator now. I may not be able to wait for the holidays! As long as I keep resoaking the cheesecloth and keep it wrapped up tight, do you think it will be okay for Christmas (4 months away)?
Yes! I’ve had it months later and it’s still delish! 😊
Goodness, this sounds wonderful! I’ve got to try it! I am just surprised that you have to keep it in the refrigerator… Generally, the alcohol keeps it from spoiling.
Thanks Laura! So, I’ve made the cake and it’s wrapped in sherry-soaked cheesecloth right now. I put all the batter into a quite large, round cake pan (the kind where the bottom unsnaps from the sides). It worked perfectly! I thoroughly greased with butter, then lined the bottom with parchment paper and greased that as well. I would say the pan is a 12-inch diameter circle, maybe 14. I cooked it for 1 hour 50 minutes at 130 degrees celsius (since we work in celsius in the UK–and 300 converts to 150 C, but then minus another 20 degrees C because my oven is fan-assisted, as are most British ovens these days–fan-assisted meaning convection). (Btw, I’m American, but moved to the UK earlier this year–still getting used to everything British!) The cake seems very sturdy, not likely to break at all.
Looking forward to your mom’s advice on marzipan and icing. And two more questions for you (or her!). How long will this last if I keep soaking it each week in the sherry? And if it won’t last more than 4-6 weeks, could/should I freeze it? Thanks so much!
hi laura- i am getting ready to make my fruitcakes for christmas. this will be the first year i use dried fruit instead of candied and your recipe looks the most promising! except for the spicing- it is spiced like pumpkin pie and since we will eat pumpkin pie. also, i think i will stick with the citrus zest flavor. funny, not many people say how their cake turned out– i guess because it doesn’t get eaten for a few weeks.
graye
Don’t worry about the cinnamon and nutmeg addition! This fruitcake tastes NOTHING like pumpkin pie or anything in that family. The citrus and fruit are the main stars of this fruitcake! And yes to the feedback. We’ve been making this fruitcake for years, so I’m very confident in the recipe – but it does get prepared way in advance, so I think people forget to come back and tell me the final outcome! 🙂
i am still eating fruitcake! it turned out pretty good. a bit raisin-y, tho. after i had all the fruit snipped- measured separately- i measured it together and had only 6 cups- not 8- and then when i mixed it all up the batter looked way too wet so i added another cup of raisins. shrug! also, i can’t really taste the difference between the dried cherries and the raisins– but i think it is probably because i used brandy, a grape product, instead of rum. i also used dates instead of figs, but other than those 2 things, i stuck to the recipe. it could have used double the nuts i think. and if i could have found dried unsweetened cranberries they would have been good. all in all successful fruitcake with dried fruit instead of candied– i think tho i will use a few candied cherries next year– for the festive look they provide!
okey-dokey! i will stick to the recipe as much as possible. and i’ve bookmarked this page so hopefully you will hear from me christmas-time on the results!
graye
Hello Laura! Those beautiful pictures and the ingredients made me want to make my first fruit cake ever. I bought everything and am ready for attack! Could I cut the alcohol in half and replace the missing liquid by something else? Would it be better to freeze it if I don’t want to resoak the cloth every week? Thanks for the answers. 🙂
Thank you so much! Hmmm…honestly, I’m not sure if would suggest cutting the alcohol in half from the cake itself. I have never tried doing that and most of the alcohol will cook out during the baking. Unfortunately, I have never tried doing this, so I can’t say if a substitute would work (and wouldn’t want the recipe to not work out without having tested it myself).
If you would rather not soak the cloth every week, don’t worry about it! I would soak it the once and as long as it is well-wrapped, it should be fine in the fridge for an extended period of time. I wouldn’t recommend freezing it personally, as the texture would probably change! I hope this helps!
Thanks Laura! Soaking tonight, baking tomorrow! I’ll let you know the results after the holidays. 🙂
I’m just curious, how important is it for this to soak for 4-6 weeks? Has anyone tried for just a couple of weeks? I’d like to make for my dad but I’m not on the ball and it’s super close to Christmas lol
You definitely don’t have to soak it for all of that time! A few days or a week would probably work as well – but it can also be stored for a very long time too. Hope this helps!
Your Mom’s fruitcake recipe sounds wonderful. I was very intrigued by the mention of marzipan. I know you don’t like it, but I love marzipan. Any chance you could tell me how your mom uses the marzipan so I can try it? Also, what was she referring to when she mentioned the “butter?”
Thank you! Happy Holidays!
I’m so excited to make this. I baked thet loaves today and am wrapping them in triple sec soaked cheesecloth. I’m wondering, if I use triple sec now, should I use sherry for the next couple weeks or keep using the triple sec. Does it matter? Thanx for this recipe. Honest confession, I’ve nibble a little off the edges of one fruitcake, already. Delicious, but I want to let it set a few weeks.
I am so excited to make this recipe! My mother loves fruitcake, but she doesn’t like the store bought version very much. I plan on making them this weekend to give it time to soak over the next 3 weeks until Christmas. One question (if you’re still checking!), the second loaf will go to a family friend in another state. Does it need to be refrigerated or will it hold up for a few weeks just wrapped in the cheesecloth, wax paper, and foil?
laura,I have made fruit cakes for years but this one is simply fabulous. I soaked my fruit in peach brandy for about a week. I added drained pineapple and it added moisture to the cake.Thank you for taking the time to share this wonderful Christmas cake.Sandra
My friend and I love your recipe. In fact we seem to have gone fruitcake crazy! Can we freeze the cakes for later use, we have done the whole thing just as your recipe states, but we made a lot of cakes!!!
Wonderfully tasty & easy to make!! SO GOOD!! I’ve made this recipe twice!! For me, recipe makes 2 loaves….. just took one out of refrig made Nov 2016 & so delicious! Plan to make more in a week or two! Thank you !
How do I use the parchment paper? Is it absolutely necessary to use it particularly if I use nonstick loaf pans? I will be trying this recipe for the first time. For about 20 years I have made fruitcake with candied fruit and rum. Is it ok to soak in rum rather than sherry?
Thank you,
Alisyn Edwards
Hi Alisyn! Sorry for not getting back to you right away (saw your earlier comment – it just hadn’t been approved yet). I don’t think you would *have* to line them with parchment paper, but since the cake is on the more delicate side – I would strongly recommend lining it to be safe. It will also make it easier to remove. In order to line it, you’ll want to cut a piece of parchment that is large enough so that the sides of parchment paper go up all the way on the longest edge of the pan (it should actually end over the top, so that you can grab the pieces of parchment paper from both sides to remove the loaf). Here’s a visual: http://www.framedrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DSC_7063_Cumin_Bread_4.jpg
Hope this helps!
Thank you Laura! This will be my first year in over 20 years of making fruitcake with dried fruit rather than candied fruit. One other question, do I butter the parchment paper before putting the batter in it?
Yay! I think you’ll like it more than candied (if I do say so myself 😉 ). You can butter it. I think it would be fine either way though! Hope this helps and please let me know if you like the cake once you make it.
Also – I think rum could also definitely work if you prefer that flavor. My mom prefers sherry and has always used that, but I think its totally up to your own preference.
Hi, made this tonight and it smells delicious. Mine didn’t turn brown though; they stayed a medium pail brown. Any ideas why? I used mini loaves, otherwise the same. Took around 45 minutes to cook.
Can I make this with almond flour instead of wheat flour? I was looking for a booze-soaked, dried-fruit and nuts grain-free sort of fruitcake I could make, partly for an excuse to soak it in sherry (or something). This looks great except for the flour……..
Sorry for only just responding to this Lisa! I’ve never tried this and am a bit hesitant to advise it (especially since it’s not a cheap recipe to make and I don’t want you to get bad results), because it is VERY fruit filled and I’m worried there wouldn’t be much structure left if you used a non-gluten nut flour. Could you try a gluten free 1:1 blend? Perhaps Bob’s Red Mill brand?
I made this last year and am soaking my fruit again at this moment. I grew up with that fruitcake with glazed cherries and bitter fruit My dear mother made a lovely dark version of it and would take out those old fashioned tins to bake them in. I wish I still had them! I learned to love her fruitcake … But times change and we move forward and this recipe is outstanding !Last year I gifted this cake to my fruitcake loving friends and family. It was a huge hit. Thank you for this beautiful recipe !
Several people have asked how to put marzipan on top. Could you get your mother to advise you and update your response please.
Also, could you let me know if your loaf pans are metal or glass? The temperature gets adjusted depending on the material. Thanks in advance for your help!
I’ll ask my mom about the marzipan – we don’t really do that with these fruitcakes, but I’m sure its more than possible. Also, the loaf pans that my mom uses are metal – thanks for the great question!
So, I just discussed this with my mom! Haha. She doesn’t do a marzipan layer, because she likes to soak/continually brush the fruitcake with booze as it sits and we choose not to do a royal icing on ours (which is *usually* why you would add a marzipan layer) -BUT basically, you want to brush the top and sides of the fruitcake with a glaze – apricot jam thinned on stove and cooled down will work well for this – and then get about 2 tubes of marzipan from store. Roll out into a thin layer, cut into strips the size of the sides / top of the loaf and apply. Hope this helps!
I have two loaves in the oven at this moment. What a superb recipe. It’s the first time I’ve wavered from the Craig Claiborne NYT recipe from about 1976. I did not use the figs added extra cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots. Couldn’t find the usual currants and really wanted black currants. I will test in 4-6 weeks. Just leftover rum for the cheesecloth. Otherwise I was faithful.
Wow! My mom will be so honored to hear this. Hope you enjoy the fruitcake and looking forward to hearing your thoughts in a few weeks! I’d love if you could take the time to come back and leave a review/comment. Thank you so much Barbara!
I just made this for the first time and couldn’t resist taking a sliver while it was still hot. Wow! This is one of the best things I’ve ever baked. There’s no way this is staying around for weeks! I’l be sharing it with friends tomorrow, but will make some more and see what it’s like when it ages. Didn’t have the exact fruits, so improvised, with quite a bit of dates, some dried mango, lots of raisins, some dried cherries, but it really didn’t matter. Thank you so much!
So thrilled to hear that!
hello from Canada! just got home from the grocery to buy the ingredients. got a question for you, the soaked fruits, am i adding the rum to the batter? or i need to drain the fruits?
also, can i substitute Marsala to Sherry?
thank you.
The fruit should almost entirely soak up the rum, so no need to drain the fruit at all. Hmm, I’m not as sure about the marsala substitute, because I’ve never tried that and my mom hasn’t used that. I wouldn’t personally recommend it, but if you like the taste of marsala (because that flavor will be quite notice since that’s what you’re using to soak the cake), feel free to try it! Sorry I can’t be more specific, but hope this helps.
Hello Laura
I love the sound of this recipe, I have all my ingredients ready to go but I would like to know if I can make this cake in a 20cm Round cake Tin.
The mixture would need to be doubled for this size.?
Hi Pam! This recipe makes TWO standard loaf cakes – since I don’t know the depth of your cake tin (is it deep, is it shallow?), it’s really hard to say. Plus, I’ve just never made this particular cake in one, so I’m hesitant to say an exact recipe conversion. I would recommend checking out this page: http://dish.allrecipes.com/cake-pan-size-conversions/ and trying to determine the volume of the cake pan you want to use and comparing it to the volume of (two) loaf pans as stated in the recipe. I wish I could be more helpful, but I would need to test it properly to give more detailed advice!
Hi, any chance to get cup measurement to kilograms please
Hi Mimi! Just wanted to let you know that I’ve added metric measurements to the recipe!!! Hope you have a chance to make it.
Thanks for sharing world’s best fruitcake recipe. I have made this and enjoyed a lot with my family.
Do you have any suggestions of what I can use to soak the cheesecloths and cake in, since I do not want to use the alcohol? Also, can I soak the fruit in juice as opposed to the rum?
Thank you so much for such a wonderful looking recipe. I am making it this weekend.
Hmmm…I’m not sure if I would soak it honestly if you aren’t going to use alcohol. It will still be extremely moist without the cheesecloth step, and I just don’t think fruit juice will benefit the cake (the alcohol does cut the sweetness; fruit juice won’t really add much to it). I hope this helps!!
Can I use Cream sherry to soak the fruit instead of rum?
Hi Julie! Yes – you could definitely use cream sherry if you prefer. I would try to find something on the drier side personally (like an Amontillado), but it will work.
Baked the cakes today and they smell amazing! Did want to point out though that I don’t believe baking powder and nutmeg are mentioned in the recipe itself, but are listed in the ingredients? I hope it wasn’t too detrimental that I added towards the end, before the fruit, because I realized I hadn’t added them yet and couldn’t find mention of them in the steps! It could just be a slip up on my end too. Regardless, I’m very excited to start soaking these and have them ready for Christmas!
Oh my gosh – this was a typo error on my part. Yes, they should have been in the dry flour mixture (ingredients are listed in order of use). I just fixed this. I don’t believe it will be very detrimental to this cake, but I REALLY appreciate you bringing this to my attention. I’m really sorry for somehow missing that when writing and editing the instructions. THANK YOU for again for your feedback, so I could update the recipe for others. I hope you love the fruit cakes!!!
I made this fruitcake exactly as recipe showed. It is indeed the best fruitcake ever. Thanks Laura.
Great to see Americans seeing the delights of a good fruit cake. Never understood the lack of enthusiasm for them in the USA. Maybe it is the candid fruit?
This is on my next one to try.
I love it too! I must admit, I’m very wary of the candied fruit too because it generally just tastes like sugar to me, but this is the absolute BEST fruit cake I’ve ever had. Slightly biased, but hope you agree!
I wanna go to give try this fruits cake recipe thanks for posting.
yummmm ???? Looks so delicious, can’t wait to try this. ❤️
This looks absolutely delicious, can’t wait to try this style of fruit cake. Here’s my way of doing it https://wordanova.com/recipe/fruitcake/
Hope you like it :’)
Best tasting fruitcake! I made this last year and fell in love with it. My adult children did too. I just texted them that it was fruitcake time and their response was “let’s get drunk on cake!” Last year, I didn’t start early enough, but this year pI more with it. I like the dark chocolate added! I hope I can wait while it soaks… thank you.
So thrilled to hear that Christine! It is one of my absolute favorites too. I recently tested this cake and have found that just a week of soaking (or even a few days) makes the biggest difference with flavor, so don’t worry if you can’t soak it longer. I’ve also updated the cake to include metric weights as well, and have simplified a few of the dry fruit ingredients too. Same taste, just easier to make and follow! 🙂 Thank you so much for your feedback and for taking the time to leave your review. I know that I, and others, really appreciate it.
Hey Laura! I’ve made your fruit cake before and it was a real hit, but I SWORE there were currants in the recipe! Did I make that up or did it change?
So happy to hear that!!! You’re not imagining thing. I recently re-tested and made some minor adjustments to the dried fruit mixture to make everything easier to find and more approachable. Also added metric weights. Currants in the US (sometimes called zante currants) are essentially just small raisins (they’re made from grapes), so they don’t offer much of a flavor contrast from the other raisin addition. So instead, I tested and updated the recipe to include regular raisins and golden raisins for contrast. Flavor is just as good, if not better! But you can absolutely substitute the golden raisins with currants if you prefer. It’s flexible! Hope this clarifies thing and apologize for any confusion.
Thank you so much!!! Couldn’t find them this year but I just KNEW I wasn’t crazy????lol. This year I died the raisins, all the other fruits, and then I had a random bag of chopped dates so I threw them in as well!
I’ve got my drunk fruit going since yesterday, And will be soaking the cake till Christmas!
Thank you so much for the hard work on this recipe. It really is the best Fruitcake I’ve ever had!
Great!! I’ve found that just a week of soaking makes the biggest difference in flavor, but your plan also sounds great 🙂 So thrilled you love this recipe as much as my family does!
Beautiful photos and well written post! You have made a brilliant job of “rewriting” this recipe so it makes sense to others. Try this cake everyone! The holidays are not the same without it! Just add a cup of tea! Yum! Want some right now!
Do people serve this cake to children and recovering alcoholis? Not worried about the rum as it cooks off but what about the outside sherry?
Hi Joan! Thanks for the question. I would NOT serve this cake to recovering alcoholics or children (to be honest, I don’t think this is the type of cake that most kids will love – but you never know!) if you’re planning on soaking the cake with sherry. The alcohol does not cook off, so you taste it/smell it. Hope that helps! You could certainly choose not to soak the cake – or reserve a section for kids or anyone else that is unsoaked – it just has the best flavor if you do this step.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe!
It looks amazing.
Just one question…
Can I use brandy instead of sherry? Have you tried it with brandy?
My mom has never used brandy for wrapping – it is VERY high in alcohol content, so I would be a little hesitant unless you’re prepared for an even boozier flavor, since it does not cook off. I just personally prefer the flavor and flavor notes of triple sec or medium sherry, but you could experiment if you want!! Thanks for the great question.
My dad was a pastor and we always got several fruitcakes at Christmas. As a small boy I thought they were dreadful, poisonous undigestable bricks. Mom keeps insisting I could not have been more wrong. 60 years later I want to surprise her with a homemade one that gives her the moistness she insisted made them wonderful and the booziness that you just can’t find in any mail-order fruitcakes. I’m soaking the fruit now. I can’t wait. THANK you.
Yay! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts (and your mom’s thoughts!). This is definitely the best fruit cake that I’ve had and I hope you love it too. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your thoughtful comment and hope you’ll have a chance to come back to visit the post and leave a review 🙂
Because I dont measure anything, I fail at baking. I love love fruit cake but have never found any shops that sell ones that I like. They all have a weird funny taste. So … I decided to bite the bullet and bake my own and OMG!! for someone who cant bake, these turned out sooooo goood. This beats anything I have ever tasted and its definately worth trying. Being a non drinker, I actually added nearly half a bottle of rum. After soaking the fruit in it overnight, when I whiffed it, I nearly got drunk!! However, once in the fruit cake, I couldn’t really taste it… but I am getting sleepy when eating it lol. I will def make this again, but next time will prob add a bit more rum during the half way mark. I also couldnt help myself and added more candied ginger and even though I added more, I still couldnt taste it much, so I guess I will add a tad more next time. I also added twice as much slivered almonds and same amount ( if not more) of chopped pecans. Gives it a nice crunchy texture.As soon as the cake cooled down, I took a slice, with a pretty blunt knife, I couldn’t wait to taste it and it was sooo good. I cant wait to taste it again once its aged abit. Thank you soooooooooooo much for this awesone recipe. Mine ofcourse didnt turn out as nice as yours. Yours looks sooo good.
O..M…G… I just took them out. This is right up there with you know what…almost the most fun you can have by yourself. If I had had THIS when I was a kid, life would have been VERY different. This borders on FLUFFY. Imagine a moist spice cake or carrot cake cousin, FULL of MOIST, TENDER, RUMMY fruit and nuts that are just better than al dente. Oh My god. I called mom, and said, “I’m in heaven.” And i just kept tasting it and moaning “oh my god”. She said, “sounds like heaven, the way you keep calling out for god ! Or it’s the scene from Harry met Sally. I am VERY pleased with this risky little adventure. I used FOUR 3 x 7 Pans (not quite “minis” with parchment all around – (i cut little surrounds) Perfection at 1 hour and 15 minutes for the test loaf, and because it was so moist, I left the others in for 1:25 just to be sure. It’s so moist it was hard to tell if the cake was done or not, but the toothpick came out clean at 1:10. I’ll be cutting these in half to give out 8 little cake gifts. People will have to vote affirmatively to get one next year. Fruitcake, as we all acknowledged, gets a bad rap. It sure did with me for 59 years. NOW, i will serve it warmed or on fire, and add either marzipan, carrotcake frosting, or butter for those who want. I have a lot of veg/vegan/ gluten yikes folks, so i’m going to have to experiment later, but for now, this is good old fashioned fruit cake from a time before “food fuss”. LAURA, I can not thank you enough. Grazi, Gracias, spaisibo, danke, merci, and good on ya’ mate. Merry Christmas.
So thrilled to hear that you like how the fruit cakes came out! What an amazing write-up and review. Really appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave your thoughts. I (and others!) really appreciate it. 🙂
BTW, I doubled the soaking amount out of neurosis and fear. I drained off the rest the next day. I will use it for the dribbles and curing. I used Cointreau, Captain Morgan dark, and Rhum Barbancourt from Haiti. I also through in a little nip sized Southern Comfort 80 to boost the cherry note. I cheated and used some chopped maraschino cherries. They add a wet plumpness. This is heaven.
Threw not through. Oh, and BTW, the recipe states the water in the glazing activity, but the recipe just says ” 1/4 cup (60 ml) ” but not WHAT. you find it later as you read the process notes. And, cuz I’m an old English teacher, the plural of loaf is loaves. I think. At least, that’s what’s in the King James. LAURA, you have a devotee. I will trust you from now on. Doug in Rhode Island.
Thank you for bringing that to my attention – that was an omission error when I inserted the original recipe into my site! I just fixed both. Appreciate it!! 🙂
I made this recipe without the chocolate.. BY FAR, THE WORLD’S BEST.. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!! This will not disappoint as it is unbelievably delicious. Expensive to make but worth every penny and some. I will make this award winning masterpiece!! Kudos to your mother and you for sharing with us.. Kim & Christopher 🥮💕👌🥰
So thrilled to hear this Kim! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a recipe review, I really really appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of the fruit cake!
OMG! I made this fruitcake for my friends , Everyone of them have liked it. Your recipe made my day. Thank you for sharing.
Gosh I hope you see this comment soon my fruit is soaking. After I added it I realized that two of the fruits were “sweetened” already. Should I reduce the sugar in the recipe??
Hi Peggy! What dried fruits are they? I wouldn’t honestly worry too much because I don’t think it will be enough to completely over sweeten the cake, but you could reduce the brown sugar by a tablespoon and that should help mitigate. Hope this helps and I replied soon enough!! Feel free to ask other questions if you have them.
Bless your heart for replying so quickly. I could not find dried apples/pears; i used dried pineapple that was sweetened, and the cherries were also sweetened. I was thinking of adding dried cranberries to help with the tartness, but they would not be soaked (I would just throw them in). What do you think? Again, thanks so much.
It will definitely be a touch sweeter, but I still think the cake will come out nicely either way. I wouldn’t add any more dried fruit (than the recipe calls for, unless you’re substituting one for another) – because it is already very fruit heavy and the ratio will be thrown off. I would leave as is! If you make this cake again in the future and have a location near you, the best place that I can find dried unsweetened fruit is Trader Joe’s. They have a large selection. Looking forward to hearing how the cake comes out!
I had never made fruit cake before, but this Christmas I decided to try it out, and I am so happy I found this recipe! It tastes just like the fruit cake my neighbor orders from a specialty bakery! I’ve already made two loaves and I have the fruit soaking for two more!
So thrilled to hear this! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a recipe review. It means a lot!! Happiest of holidays!
Will be making this next year for sure. I don’t eat it but I like the challenge. I couldn’t find the metric conversion or by weight recipe.
Hi Cheryl, the metric weights (grams) are listed in the main recipe at the bottom of the post – right next to the volume measurements. Hope this helps!
Oh my gosh sorry. Couldn’t have been more obvious. Happy holidays.
I want to limit the fruits, perhaps pear apricot ginger hazelnut with Poire Willams, cherry blueberry dark chocolate walnut with cherry liqueur for example. So my question is can I replace the soaking rum and whiskey with liqueur? I think it will work but want your thoughts.
Sorry I didn’t get back to this sooner! I came down with the flu over the holidays. I have a feeling you already worked this out, but you can mostly substitute different liquors for the soaking liquid, I just personally prefer rum.
I actually haven’t made this yet, I’m planning to next year but will make it ahead just to make sure it works. Thank you for getting bake to me.
Perfect! Like your fruit cake recipe. Looks Delicious!
Can you soak the cheesecloth in amaretto?
You most likely could, but it is a much stronger flavored alcohol, so it is really up to you and your taste preferences!
I don’t usually leave review or any comments but here i am. its sleep time and instead of sleeping I’m online looking for fruit cake recipe and it is worth it that i came here. Your website is really beautiful and all the recipe seems easy. I’m definitely going to try this cake but i also want to try all the recipes you’ve posted. Please post more beautiful and delicious recipes. Thank you:)
Haha! Thanks for the kind words. Please do come back and let me know what you think of the cake if you make it!
great
Hi, finally i tried your recipes, it’s my first time to bake this kind of cake and i love it… and i shared it with couple of my friends, got a very good review on it, Thank you.One of my request asked me if i can make it more moist, do you have any advise how to?I tried to soak the dried fruit around 24 hours, but after i bake the cake, i think the dried fruit need to soak longer, is it ok?Novrita – Jakarta (indonesia)
Happy to hear that! Did you let it soak with the cheesecloth for a week or two before slicing/giving away? That soaking period definitely contributes a lot more moisture to the cake, and I highly recommend it – although it will still taste good either way. The cake has a ton of dried fruit in it, so it is by nature moist, but you could try increased the alcohol amount a bit. I wouldn’t do too much, because it will mess up the ratios of the batter ingredients!
Hi Laura
Have just measured out the fruit and added the booze. There is no way the booze is going to soften all the fruit so am bothered that the final cake will have some very dried tasting dried fruits – like the peaches. Is there aby reason why I cant add the orange juice today to expand the fluid available to soak into the fruit?
Thanks Carol ps I make a slightly similar recipe for christmas pudding and the O. .juice is added to the booze and soaked overnight and it always works really well. Am aware it might just reduce the fressh orangey taste a little but I wonder with well over 1kg of dried fruit, if that will really be noticeable.
Hi Carol. You could add the orange juice if you want, but I would personally not. If the dried fruit was chopped in the way the recipe states and the amounts/ingredients were measured properly, I can assure you that this cake is anything but dry. It is INCREDIBLY moist, especially once it has been wrapped in cheesecloth for a week. Remember, you’re also adding grated apple, etc. to the batter the next day.
I’ve made this cake countless times and many other people have, I have never once received feedback on it being dry.
Can dark rum substitute with non alcohol liquid? if it is, what type of juice is advisable? Pls advise
It will not have the same taste without the alcohol, but you could try additional orange juice. I have not tested this variation though!
Easy to follow and a good mid-year treat.
Hi laura, i made this fruit cake for my father yesterday for his birthday and i must say after following your instructions one by one it wasn’t just easy to make but the resulting piece was mouth watering. Even my grandfather who has diabetes couldn’t resist having a bite. They even couldn’t believe that i made it by myself. All thanks to you, keep up the good work and keep amazing us with your recipes.
I am going to try to bake this cake based on yr recipe. Can i ask should i soak with the nuts? If no why ? Can i also know how long i should soak the dried ingredients. Pls advise
You could, but there really is no point because they don’t need to be softened. I’ve included instructions in the recipe below, so the fruit mixture should soak for about 24 hours.
Wow! This looks really delicious and cute, i cant wait to make one on my own.
Hi, would i be able to soak the cake in dark rum for approx 2 weeks instead of using sherry or triple sec? Thank you
I don’t see why not, just a matter of taste preference! Hope this helps!
Hi Laura, your cake looks amazing.I am going to give a try but I don’t have dark rum. Is there any substitute for it? Second I don’t have crystallised ginger too, can I omit it?
It depends on what you have as a substitute, you can try another booze that you think would work well for your flavor preference, etc. In terms of the crystallized ginger, you can definitely omit it – you might want to add a teaspoon of ground ginger (if you have it) to add a little bit of that flavor, because it is one of my favorite additions.
Hello!
Will this cake last longer then 8 weeks untouched ?
Absolutely! You can eat part of it too, haha. I had my last batch stick around for 4+ months. It holds REALLY well.
Hi, this is my first time trying to bake a fruit cake. Am just about to soak the dried fruit in a glass jar and i realise that the rum barely soakes till the top. Is that alright or do i need to soak them in a bowl as u mentioned in your recipe? Thanks in advance for your advice! am really looking forward to bake this world best fruit cake.
I would personally use a wide bowl, hope this helps! The fruit should be mixed but it won’t be sitting in huge quantities of alcohol.
thanks a lot for your advice! i baked my cakes today and it didnt turn out brown as yours, mine is pale looking brown. Do u know what affected that?
Hi, love your fruit cake recipe! may i know if u were using the oven with fan force or not? will really appreciate your help
Wow, such an amazing recipe. I never get tired of baking. So, adding this to my favorites.
That’s an amazing fruit cake recipe.
I made this recipe two days ago and the results are already amazing! I used sour apricots and dried apple (200g and 120g) as optional fruits, and used dried cranberries instead of the dark raisins. I also added 50g more figs as I don’t wanna keep the leftover. I used 7 small loaf tins and the bake was awesome! I bought Grand Marnier yesterday and brushed them all around each loaf and I hope it turns out really boozy after some weeks. I plan to reapply the liquor every week. For now they all sit in a bag in my fridge. This recipe is a must have.
I plan on making this over the weekend! It looks fantastic!! One question about baking time…cause I often get that wrong when backing – either underdone or too browned!!
When you say to bake until the cakes are ‘set’ – should they be brown? Also with that much fruit, would the toothpick coming out clean be a good test of doneness??? Thank you for any advice – I don’t want to mess it up!!
They are slightly golden – they shouldn’t be pale and they definitely shouldn’t be mushy, and it will start to pull slightly from the sides. The toothpick trick is a little tricky because its a moist cake with a lot of dried fruit, but it should mostly come out clean. I think it will be fairly obvious when you start baking! Hope this helps!
Is your fruit cake available on line?
No, sorry, it is not for sale! I just provide the recipe for you to make at home.
hey laura! thank you for sharing such awesome recipe! im looking forward to make this!
would like to know instead of sherry and triple sec, would i just brush the sides of the fruitcake with rum and wrap with double baking double + double aluminum foil? =)
Hi Jean! I prefer the flavor and taste of the sherry and triple sec, but you could absolutely use rum if that’s you preference! Don’t see why that would be a problem at all 😉 Enjoy!
We have allergies to alcohol in my family. Is there a substitute, such as apple juice, for the alcohol in this recipe? Thank you.
You could definitely try that, the flavor will not be the same though and it won’t be quite as moist because the soaking step once it’s baked also adds even more moisture/flavor. Alcohol should cook off during baking, but I’m not sure if that is still a problem with allergies! Hope this helps!
Hey Laura, thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m trying it for the first time. I actually have the fruit soaking in rum right now. I saw another comment that mentioned marzipan on top. I’ve seen other fruitcake recipes that have marzipan added into the batter. I was wondering if this one would be too sweet with marzipan added into it.
Dear Laura,Thanks for sharing the recipe of the Fruit Cake.I prepared your recipe. At the beginning I was afraid of the result due to my limited cooking experience, but the result was amazing. Looks good, tastes wonderful, but I have a problem: the cake crumbles when you cut it. It does not matter that I use a bread knife or any other kind.I followed the recipe all the way. I am cooking in Mexico City, at 7,349 feet above sea level. I used two pans almost 9×5 inches. The result: The loaves are very humid, the dough feels as it was raw, even though they were in the oven for more than ninety minutes.Please, do you have any suggestions of how to solve the crumbling problem.Thanks for your answer.Regards,Mr. Ivo Stern.
Thanks for your comment and appreciate you sharing more details. So, that altitude will absolutely affect your baking and recipes (usually sugar and leavening) need to almost always be adjusted, particularly if you live about 5,000 feet (which you are well above). Unfortunately I’m very inexperienced with baking at altitude, so I can’t give you a specific adaptation to make, I would simply recommend adapting it the way that you adjust other baked goods in your home.
The cake is very, very moist, but should not be extremely crumbly. If you use a serrated knife (and it is cold), it should always hold its shape once sliced. I’m wondering if a measurement is off (or there might be a difference in some sort of ingredient compared to my own, since every country’s flours etc vary). I wish I could be more helpful!
Good afternoon, can I use kitchen towels Instead of cheesecloth for wrapping? I can’t find any cheesecloth.
Also, if I tried making this in those paper single-use loaf pans, the ones that you don’t remove but can gift as is, I can only soak the top I suppose. Would that be okay?
Thanks!
Hi! Please don’t do this, because the paper towels will disintegrate or probably stick to the cake and it will become a mess. Do you have a kitchen linen (real linen or a thin other variety) you’d feel comfortable soaking and potentially staining? Thats the next best option. Hope this helps!
Thank you for the prompt reply!!
Oh, i didn’t mean paper kitchen towels, but the cotton type (English is not my first language). I only have cotton, linen towels are very difficult to find here. Do you think they would work ok? I have different types, the one is straight-cloth kitchen towel, and I also have the knobbly type face wash-towel, both 100% cotton. I also have some 100% cotton pillow cases that I wouldn’t mind tearing to long strips. Which do you think would work the best? I hope I am making sense in explaining these.
Christmas fruit cakes are a big deal here, and my mom absolutely loves them. But I hate the traditional glazed fruit and syrup, so I am very keen in making your recipe, it looks amazing and much healthier. I already told my mom I will be making Christmas fruitcake for the first time this year!!
Oops!!! Sorry Thea. I read that early this morning and I’m not sure why my brain read “paper towels” and not kitchen towels (as you said!). 🤪 Yes! That will definitely work. Don’t use any of the knobbly type, you want to use something that won’t leave any sort of lint and is a smooth linen/thin cotton one.
I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Left a comment last year while the cakes were baking, now I’m back again to say they came out perfect and I’m making them again for the second year in a row!! When I was younger, my family used to purchase cakes from a local monastery made by monks. This fruitcake tastes almost the same as the fruitcake we used to purchase and my family LOVED it! Thank you so much for this recipe, it’s a wonderful treat for the holidays!
So happy to hear this! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review. I always love hearing from people that try my recipes, particularly this one as it is a family staple and something we also look forward to enjoying each holiday season.
Is there an option for those who don’t drink alcohol? What can we use to substitute instead?
how many portions do you recommend from this recipe?
Really just depends on the person! It is the size of a normal size loaf cake (if that helps) – I would say at least 10 because it is fairly rich and a little goes a long way.
What substitute do you suggest for soaking the cheesecloth in if you don’t want to use alcohol
I would still use cheesecloth, but a thin kitchen linen would be next best option.
Good morning. Can you please let me know how many grams are your Large eggs? Is it American large size (53-63g) or European large size (63-73g)? With 5 eggs it will make a huge difference! Thanks