Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (2024)

Published: · Modified: by Fox Valley Foodie · This post may contain affiliate links

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

ThisOld Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe is an old family recipe and a holiday classic. Candied fruit and crunchy nuts fill this brandy infused cake that is sure to become a Christmas tradition at your house too!

When is the last time you got to pour booze on bread? Probably not since breakfast, at least. Well, dust off that bottle of brandy, because the holidays are coming! Whatever you don't swig down to tolerate the in-laws you will want to save to paint your freshly baked holiday fruitcake!

Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (1)

What is it?

This old-fashioned fruitcake recipe has been in my family for years and has been a Christmas time tradition as long as I can remember. My mother passed it on to me, and her mother to her. I'm pretty sure my grandma got it from baby Jesus. This dense cake is essentially a sweetened bread loaf loaded with spices and sweets, then marinated for weeks with liquor. It is a must-try for any fruitcake lover.

Hailing from Wisconsin, my family makes our holiday fruitcake with brandy as the primary moisturizer. In my mind, brandy and fruitcake have always gone together like Santa and a bowl full of jelly. I've seen other Christmas cake recipes with rum, or even no booze at all, but I'm fairly certain fruitcake without booze is sacrilegious.

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Butter
  • Whitesugar - Brown sugar can be substituted.
  • Large Eggs
  • All purposeflour
  • Ground nutmeg
  • Groundcinnamon
  • Brandy- Brandy is my preferred liquor, but dark rum would be my second choice followed by whiskey.
  • Chopped nuts- I recommend pecans or walnuts.
  • Dates
  • Dark Raisins - Golden raisins are a great substitute, but other dried fruits can also be used.
  • Candied pineapple- You can substitute other candied fruit.
  • Candied cherries

Note: My mother says you can use whatever candied fruit you prefer.Grocery stores often sell bags of mixed candied fruit that is perfect for this recipe. She likes purchasing them on on clearance after the holidays to stock up for next year. You can even usesweetened dried fruit if needed, but candied is best.

How to Make It

My family always made these fruitcakes in bulk to give away as presents for the holidays, because who doesn't want to find baked goods in their stockings? Assuming your kids would rather have a PS4 than a booze-infusedcake, I scaled the original recipe down for the average home cook. My recipe yields enough batter fortwo 8" loaf cakes, rather than eight. Feel free to scale the recipe up as desired.

I used 8" aluminum foil loaf pans for this recipe. Their sizing is ideal, plus they allow you to easily give away extra fruitcakes to friends without worrying about losing a good bread pan.

To begin, cream your butter in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, then add the sugar a bit at a time and cream together with the butter until everything is smooth. Next, beat the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time.

Next, ¾ cup flour can be sifted into the batter along with all spices. Follow this by slowly adding two tablespoons of brandy to the flour mixture. The fruits and nuts are the remaining dry ingredients to add to the fruit cake batter. They should be dredged in the remaining ¼ cup of flour, then stirred into the batter with a wooden spoon.

Pour your cake mixture into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper then bake for ninety minutes at 300 degrees. Then remove your homemade fruitcake from the oven and baste the top of the cake with 2 more tablespoons of brandy and then store in a cool dark place.

Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (2)

How to Store Fruitcake

A true old fashionedfruitcake is marinated in brandy for about a month to improve the flavor as the cake ages. My mother recommends storing the fruitcake in an airtight container or plastic wrap in the refrigerator and basting it in brandy weekly until Christmas. However, if you are short on time, you can enjoy your fruitcake whenever you are ready to consume it. Fruitcakes can also be frozen in double freezer bags, however, do not do so until after a month of basting since the frozen cake won't soak up any brandy.

Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (3)

Can you do me a favor? If you enjoyed my post would you mind sharing it with your friends? You can see more of my recipes byliking me on Facebookandfollow me on Pinteresttoo. Otherwise, stay up to date by getting each new post sent directly to your inbox bysubscribingtoday.

Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (4)

Old Fashioned Fruitcake recipe

MyOld Fashioned Fruitcake recipe is an old family recipe featuring candied fruit and crunchy nuts filling this brandy infused cake. A true holiday season classic.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate Save

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 16

Calories: 277kcal

Author: Fox Valley Foodie

Equipment

  • Bread loaf pan

  • Parchment paper

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup flour (divided)
  • teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ cup brandy (divided)
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (I recommend pecans)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • ½ cup candied pineapple (cut in small pieces)
  • 8 ounces dates (chopped small)
  • ½ cup candied cherries

Instructions

  • Cream butter in a large bowl then add sugar gradually and cream until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

  • Sift ¾ cup flour with spices. Add alternately with 2 tablespoon brandy to creamed mixture.

  • Dredge fruit and nuts with remaining flour. Add floured fruit to batter, mix well.

  • Pour batter into a pan lined with waxed paper.

  • Bake at 300⁰ for 90 minutes. The fruitcake is done when the top is golden brown and the interior is moist but no longer doughy.

  • Remove from oven and baste with remaining 2 tablespoons brandy and let cool on a wire rack.

  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and baste weekly with brandy for a month.

Notes

You can make your individual fruitcakes big or small, however you will have to adjust the baking time accordingly. Here is how to do so:

1-2 pound fruitcake – Bake approximately 90 minutes per pound

2-4 pound fruitcake – 60 minutes per pound

4-8pound fruitcake – 45 minutes perpound

8-12pound fruitcake – 30 minutes perpound

IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE you will love my too!

Nutritional Information

Calories: 277kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 225IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1.3mg

Tried this Recipe? Pin it Today!Mention @FoxValleyFoodie or tag #foxvalleyfoodie!

This recipe was originally published on November 29, 2017, on FoxValleyFoodie.com.

Old Fashioned Fruitcake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the original fruitcake? ›

The Roman fruitcake was a mash of barley, honey, wine and dried fruit, often pomegranate seeds. What you might recognize as a modern-style fruitcake – a moist, leavened dessert studded with fruits and nuts – was probably first baked in the early Middle Ages in Europe.

What two ingredients help fruitcake last longer? ›

Sugar helps to stabilize the amount of water in the fruits, which helps to prevent bacterial growth. Another added benefit to using sugar to preserve fruits? It prevents oxidation and helps fruit keep its firm texture, instead of getting mushy. #2: The Density of fruitcake.

How long do you let fruitcake age? ›

The most common duration to properly age a fruitcake is about three months. Any quicker will limit the development of complex flavors attributed to the maturing process. You can certainly age your cake for much longer than several months if you'd like, but we know how busy everyday life can be.

What alcohol is best in fruitcake? ›

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

Why was fruitcake outlawed? ›

Fruitcakes were so rich, they were considered sinful and were outlawed in Europe in the early 18th century. Restrictions eased later in the century.

Where is Grandma's fruitcake made? ›

Louis, Missouri by two German immigrant brothers. What's the secret to the famous fruitcake recipe? The secret to Grandma's fruitcake is that it is hand-made by our wonderful bakers all year round and then it is mellowed to perfection before being sold to customers to enjoy!

How to make Mary Berry's fruit cake? ›

Put the flour, grated nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, chopped almonds, black treacle and the citrus zest into a large bowl and beat well to mix thoroughly. Fold in the soaked fruits. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon.

Why is my fruitcake dry and crumbly? ›

If you use a cup rather than a scale there's a good chance you're using too much flour: up to 20% too much, if you use the measuring cup as a scoop then tamp the flour down. Any baked good — especially cake —with too much flour will be dry, hard, crumbly … take your unhappy pick.

Why is my fruit cake always dry? ›

If you have too much flour in a recipe and not enough fat, like butter or oil, your cake is going to be dry and hard. For best results, I would encourage you to use a scale when baking, but if you don't have a scale, then just make sure you're using measuring cups correctly.

Can you eat 20 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.

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.

Why do you soak fruitcake in alcohol? ›

There are a lot of benefits to feeding a fruitcake. It will help keep your cake moist (especially if you are storing it for a while) as well as give it extra flavour – and, if you're a little heavy-handed, it will also develop that characteristic boozy kick.

Is brandy or whiskey better for fruit cake? ›

Whiskey serves as a great substitute for brandy in a fruitcake. Although whiskey comes from fermented grain mash while brandy is made from fermented grape mash, the process is so similar, that the flavor will be similar as well.

What is the origin of the Christmas fruitcake? ›

Fruitcake has been around since ancient Roman times.

You may know that fruitcake has roots in England, but that's not where it originated. It has been around since ancient Roman times, where it was made of a mix of pine nuts, barley mash, pomegranate seeds, raisins, and honeyed wine.

Is there such a thing as a good fruitcake? ›

If you've never had a fruitcake before, visions of dense, dry, or cloyingly sweet cakes might come to mind. But the good ones should never be dry or dense enough to throw like a rock. The best fruitcakes are just as moist and flavorful as your favorite banana bread.

What is the origin of the fruitcake at Christmas? ›

The modern fruitcake was created as a way to deal with the abundance of sugar-laced fruit and, by the early 19th century, the typical recipe was full of citrus peel, pineapples, plums, dates, pears, and cherries.by the late 1800s, the fruitcake was gifted in decorative tins, becoming a holiday staple with Christmas and ...

What kind of cakes are traditionally eaten at Christmas? ›

Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Horacio Brakus JD

Last Updated:

Views: 5712

Rating: 4 / 5 (51 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Horacio Brakus JD

Birthday: 1999-08-21

Address: Apt. 524 43384 Minnie Prairie, South Edda, MA 62804

Phone: +5931039998219

Job: Sales Strategist

Hobby: Sculling, Kitesurfing, Orienteering, Painting, Computer programming, Creative writing, Scuba diving

Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.