This is the best rich fruit cake recipe. The perfect balance of fruit and nuts in a cake batter using brown sugar, butter, and spices. Traditionally, alcohol is used in fruitcakes but orange juice works great too.
Table of Content
The one thing you absolutely must make for Christmas is a fruit cake. In fact, make this best fruit cake recipe. ha! I think it makes Christmas more complete for me.
My mom would bake loads of these every Christmas because she used to take orders for baked cakes. In fact, I remember we never got to use the dining table because it was full of Christmas cakes and traditional Christmas sweets. Now, my sister does the same.
Why make this fruit cake?
- This fruitcake is simple and easy to make. The batter takes just 10 minutes to prepare and less than 2 hours to bake.
- You can make this cake with orange juice and enjoy it right away or you can make this cake with alcohol and keep it mature for a few weeks.
- Most of the ingredients are simple and easy to find.
- All the dry fruits in this recipe can be swapped for your favorite.
- Traditionally, I remember grandma and mom made fruitcakes in October so they'd only use ingredients that would stay good and fresh until Christmas.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Fruits - Personally, I think you should use what you like and omit what you don't like. For example, if you don't like black current add more raisins or cranberries. The most important is to keep the quantity the same. So you can substitute - 1 cup black currents for 1 cup cranberries or ½ cup raisins and ½ cup cranberries.
- Liquid -
- Alcohol has a long shelf life which is why they used alcohol to store the fruitcake for weeks.
- The combination of alcohol and dried fruits is absolutely heavenly. And if you can, let the fruits sit for a few weeks like the traditional fruit cake and you will bake fruitcakes every year, I promise.
- The alcohol mellows down the flavor mixed over time with the fruit so while it can be overwhelming when fresh it softens later over the weeks.
- I use orange juice instead of alcohol because I can't have my kids eating a boozy Fruit cake.
- Black treacle - Back when grandma and mom made it, it uses to be a must but nowadays I omit it. A good substitute for treacle is the same amount of molasses or dark corn syrup.
- Mixed spice - Mixed spice is generally made with cinnamon, ginger powder, cloves, allspice, nutmeg sometimes even caraway seeds, cardamom, and cayenne.
- A good substitute for mixed spice is ⅛ teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground clove, and ground allspice.
- Alternatively, if you don't like spices you can also use just 1 teaspoon vanilla with ½ teaspoon almond extract or ¼ teaspoon rose extract.
How to make a fruitcake
Prepare
- Prepare the pan for baking - Grease and line an 8-inch round or 7-inch square cake pan with baking parchment on the bottom and sides. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan ready for baking in a water bath.
Pro tip- it is best to use parchment on the insides and foil on the outside to protect the cake get hard while the center is still cooking. - Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C/ Gas Mark 2
Pro tip - it is very important that the oven is well preheated before baking otherwise the butter will melt making a fruit sink to the bottom.
- Dry ingredients - combine the flour with salt and spice. Set aside.
- Prepare fruits - Combine all the dry fruits in a bowl and add a few tablespoons of the flour. Alternatively, If using pre-soaked fruits drain and set them in the colander until ready to add to the cake. (do not add flour to wet fruit)
Pro tip - The dry flour coating the fruits act as the glue that prevents them from sinking to the bottom but it works best if you do not overmix.
Cake batter
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time. Followed by the treacle, vanilla extract, and alcohol.
- Then add the flour mixture. Followed by fruit and nuts, including ground almonds.
Pro tip - we do not want to activate the gluten in the flour so do not overmix. - Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with the chopped sliced almonds.
Pro tip - the sliced almonds look nice on top but they can also be added to the batter.
- Place the cake pan on the prepared roasting rack and add 2 cups of hot water to the outside of the pan in the roasting rack.
Pro tip- this is a water bath and will help keep the cake moist during the long cooking time. - Bake for approximately 2 hours or until a skewer inserted inside the center comes out clean.
Pro tip - If necessary cover the top of the cake with baking paper to prevent it from becoming too dark. - Cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes, then invert on a cooling rack and cool completely
Pro tip - If using alcohol, while still hot out of the oven, pour the brandy, rum, or cognac all over the cake. - Wrap well for Christmas or Decorate as desired.
Troubleshooting
- Why does my fruit cake not rise? A fruit cake is a dense batter loaded with fruit. So, it won't rise like a regular sponge cake. However, it is not a flat dense cake. Hence, there has to be some rise because we do have leavening and eggs in the batter. So, make sure to check the baking powder is not expired.
- Why is my fruitcake crumbly? First, measure the ingredients properly, so there is a good balance of fruit to the cake batter. Too much fruit means there is not enough batter to hold it all together. And, conversely, too much sugar in a cake batter will cause the cake to crumble when you cut it. Also, too little sugar can make the cake dense and tough.
- My fruit cake is too dry? Often, over-baking a fruit cake is the cause of dry fruit cakes. A fruit cake must be baked at the right temperature. And too-high oven temperature will dry the cake. Therefore, follow the recipe closely, including baking times.
More fruitcake recipes
While fresh fruit keeps the cake moist, dry fruits can take moisture from the cake. Therefore, soaking the fruits ensures they are already moist so the cake stays moist and flavorful for longer. And yet, you don't have to soak the fruits for months, weeks, days, or hours. In fact, even an hour or two is a good start.
First, store a fruit cake in a cool dry place away from sunlight wrapped well in parchment or greaseproof paper and foil. Then, place it in an airtight container.
Later, to store a fruit cake for longer than one year. In addition, cover the alcohol-soaked fruitcake in powdered sugar, then in plastic wrap, and then in an airtight container. Read more - Fruit Cake 101 - Tips for baking and storing fruitcakes
Well, this depends on how boozy you want the fruit cake. And yet, you don't want the cake too soggy. But, you also don't want a dry or stale cake either. Hence, for a rich mature fruit cake feed it once every week for 12 weeks.
I usually cut my fruit two months in advance, like in October. And, this is the cake I make for the grown-ups - not the kids.
I place the fruit in a glass jar with a lid. And, add enough rum or brandy to soak the fruit completely.
Then, I leave the jar in the corner of the fridge. And, the fruit stays soaked in rum for the next two months.
When it’s time to bake my cake, I just drain all the alcohol from the fruit completely.
Next, I add the fruit to the cake batter and bake as normal.
Lastly, add extra brandy or rum after baking, and only if you do not mind the extra boozy zing.
You can make this cake without soaking the fruit too. It’s just a matter of taste. Some of us love the taste and some find the flavor too strong. The fruits soaked in alcohol for so long have a very distinct rich flavor. Notice I add nuts in my fruitcake when It's not going to be saved for Christmas.
Yes, you can make a fruitcake without alcohol, though traditionally it is made with alcohol. You can use orange juice instead and you do not need to soak the fruit.
But you can soak the fruit for a few hours to soften the fruit again it is not necessary. If you see in the video below I have not soaked my fruits because I am using orange juice instead of alcohol but I still prefer to soak the mixed peels for some time.
Printable Recipe
The BEST Rich Fruit Cake Recipe
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Video
Conversions Used
1 lb = 453 grams, 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 stick = 113g, 1 tbsp= 15 ml, 1 tsp= 5 ml,
Ingredients
Make one 8-inch round or 7-inch square cake
Cake
- ¾ cup (170 g) Unsalted butter ((room temperature))
- ¾ cup (165 g) Light brown sugar
- 4 Eggs ((large))
- ½ cup (120 ml) Rum, Brandy, or Orange juice (Or combination)
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cup (190 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Mix Spice ((substitutes above))
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Mace ((just a pinch))
- ¼ tsp Salt
Dry fruits and nuts
- 6 oz (170 g) Sultanas
- 6 oz (170 g) Currents
- 6 oz (170 g) Raisins
- 3 oz (85 g) Glace cherries (or dried apricots)
- 3 oz (85 g) Mixed peel (or dried cranberries)
- ½ cup (75 g) Nuts (chopped almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc)
- ½ teaspoon Zest of half lemon
- 3 tablespoon Almond meal (ground almonds )
Optional
- 1 ½ teaspoon Black Treacle ((optional) or molasses)
- 4 tablespoon (60 ml) Additional Rum /brandy ((Extra to pour on top))
Instructions
Prepare
- Prepare the pan for baking - Grease and line an 8-inch round or 7-inch square cake pan with baking parchment on the bottom and sides. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan ready for baking in a water bath. Pro tip- it is best to use parchment on the insides and foil on the outside to protect the cake get hard while the center is still cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F/150°C/ Gas Mark 2Pro tip - it is very important that the oven is well preheated before baking otherwise the butter will melt making a fruit sink to the bottom.
- Dry ingredients - combine the flour with salt and spice. Set aside.
- Prepare fruits - Combine all the dry fruits in a bowl and add a few tablespoons of the flour. Alternatively, If using pre-soaked fruits drain and set them in the colander until ready to add to the cake. (do not add flour to wet fruit) Pro tip - The dry flour coating the fruits act as the glue that prevents them from sinking to the bottom but it works best if you do not overmix.
Cake batter
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time. Followed by the treacle, vanilla extract, and alcohol.
- Then add the flour mixture. Followed by the fruit and nuts, including the ground almonds. Pro tip - we do not want to activate the gluten in the flour so do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and sprinkle with the chopped sliced almonds. Pro tip - the sliced almonds look nice on top but they can also be added to the batter.
- Place the cake pan in the prepared roasting rack and add 2 cups of hot water to the outside of the pan in the roasting rack. Pro tip- this is a water bath and will help keep the cake moist during the long cooking time.
- Bake for approximately 2 hours or until a skewer inserted inside the center comes out clean. Pro tip - If necessary cover the top of the cake with baking paper to prevent it from becoming too dark.
- Cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes, then invert on a cooling rack and cool completelyPro tip - If using alcohol, while still hot out of the oven, pour the brandy, rum, or cognac all over the cake.
- Wrap well for Christmas or Decorate as desired.
Recipe Notes & Tips
- Soaking the fruits for fruitcake -I usually cut my fruit two months in advance, like in October. And, this is the cake I make for the grown-ups - not the kids.
- I place the fruit in a glass jar with a lid. And, add enough rum or brandy to soak the fruit completely.
- Then, I leave the jar in the corner of the fridge. And, the fruit stays soaked in rum for the next two months.
- When it’s time to bake my cake, I just drain all the alcohol from the fruit completely.
- Next, I add the fruit to the cake batter and bake as normal.
- Lastly, add extra brandy or rum after baking, and only if you do not mind the extra boozy zing.
- What alcohol to use for fruitcake? -I love to use brandy, dark rum, or Cognac. But, sherry, whiskey, orange-flavored liqueur such as Cointreau also work.
- Do you have to soak fruits in alcohol? -You can make this cake without soaking the fruit too. It’s just a matter of taste. Some of us love the taste and some find the flavor too strong. The fruits soaked in alcohol for so long have a very distinct rich flavor.
- Fruit cake without alcohol - You can make a fruitcake without alcohol, though traditionally it is made with alcohol. You can use orange juice instead and you do not need to soak the fruit.
But you can soak the fruit for a few hours to soften the fruit again it is not necessary. If you see in the video below I have not soaked my fruits because I am using orange juice instead of alcohol but I still prefer to soak the mixed peels for some time - How do you store fruitcakes with alcohol?
- First, store a fruit cake in a cool dry place away from sunlight wrapped well in parchment or greaseproof paper and foil.
- Then, place in an airtight container.
- To store a fruit cake for longer than one year. In addition to the above, cover the alcohol-soaked fruitcake in powdered sugar, then in plastic wrap, and then in the airtight container. Read more - Fruit Cake 101 - Tips for baking and storing fruitcakes
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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