Recipe For Fruitcake Easy Christmas Fruitcake Recipe

My family makes fruitcakes every Christmas, not just for us but as a business. Personally, I could eat fruitcake for breakfast every day and never complain. In fact, I think a fruitcake is a must-have dessert to celebrate the Christmas holiday. This fruitcake is a twist on the traditional recipes, which are dense. This is much lighter in texture because it has less fruit and nuts. In addition, the sour cream and dark brown sugar, combined with the butter, give it a slight butterscotch flavor that’s hard to resist.

Why make this recipe for fruitcake

Unlike traditional recipes, this fruitcake is simple and easy to make. The batter takes just 10 minutes to prepare and less than 2 hours to bake. Also, once this is cake is done, you can cut into it and enjoy it right away. You do not need to let it mature for weeks, nor do you need to do any feeding. In fact, the shelf-life for this cake is just about a week. But, it can be frozen for up to 3 months. This recipe is so delicious it was featured in the magazine ‘Incredible India’ – an international cake collaboration along with my Indian-inspired cake.

Ingredients and substitutes

Sugar – The rich flavor of molasses in the brown sugar is what gives a lovely dark color to this fruitcake. And if you don’t have dark brown sugar, you can also use white sugar plus 2 tbsp of molasses.Fruit – 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 thing is to keep the quantity the same. So, for example, you can substitute – 1 cup black currents for 1 cup cranberries or 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup cranberries.Eggs – Large eggs are approximately 70 grams in weight. Since the eggs in this recipe are the main liquid and leavening, please make sure you add enough.Spice mix – I like using cinnamon, ginger powder, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg in my fruitcakes. And yet, you can also use pumpkin spice mix or gingerbread spice mix.Sour cream – Adds a nice soft crumb to the cake but it also makes it a perishable cake. That means, this cake will keep for no more than a week in the fridge. Greek yogurt is a good subsitute for sour cream.

Step by step instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F/ 165°C / Gas Mark 3.Pro tip – Always make sure the oven is well preheated for at least 15 minutes before baking the cake.Grease and dust with flour an 8-inch tube pan or a 12-cup bundt pan.Pro tip – You can also use an 8-inch round pan (3-inch deep) or a 9 x 4-inch loaf pan.

Dry ingredients – In a bowl, combine flour with salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.Fruit mixture – In a separate bowl, combine all the dried fruits. Add 2 to 4 tbsp of the flour mixture and combine well making sure to separate any chunks. And set aside.Pro tip – Fruits, like chopped dates, apricots, and figs, tend to stick together. So, it is best to separate them before adding them to the batter.

Cake batter

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.Pro tip – It is important to cream until the sugar is almost dissolved in the butter.Add eggs, one at a time, followed by the sour cream and vanilla extract. Then add the flour mixture.Pro tip – We do not want to activate the gluten in the flour so do not overmix.Add the dry fruit mixture followed by the chopped nuts.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.

Bake

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.Bake for about 80 to 90 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Pro tip – If you are using alcohol, while still hot out of the oven, pour the brandy, rum, or cognac all over the cake. Cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Then, invert on a cooling rack and cool completely.Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.

More fruitcake recipes

All about fruitcakes – tips, storage and moreRich Fruit Cake RecipeBoozy Christmas fruitcake. Eggless fruitcake recipe Dark fruitcake recipeCandied Fruit FruitcakePistachio Cherry FruitcakeCranberry Almond Semolina Cake

Frequently asked questions

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, so there has to be some rise because we do have leavening and eggs in the batter. Make sure to check that the baking powder date is not expired. Why is my fruitcake crumbly? Measure the ingredients properly, so there a good balance of fruit to the cake batter. Too much fruit means there is not enough batter to hold it all together. Alternatively, too much sugar in a cake batter will cause the cake to crumble when you cut it. 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. The too-high oven temperature will dry the cake. Follow the recipe closely, including baking times.