I know what you’re thinking. Fruitcake? Really? And yes, I am well aware of fruitcake’s reputation as the bane of the holidays. But fruitcake doesn’t have to be a joke. Yes, it is dense, but it should be sliced thinly — it’s really a confection, not a cake, and it’s impolite to go into “doorstop” territory. And yes, it does last a very long time, but that’s because it’s impregnated with alcohol, and don’t try to convince me that’s a bad thing. Plus, you really should at least taste it before you save it to be regifted next Christmas. And yes, it does contain candied fruit, but my recipe is a relatively restrained mix of candied orange peel, raisins and currants, with nary a scary green cherry in sight.
The simple fact of it is that you can’t have a properly Dickensian Christmas without fruitcake (although even Charles Dickens himself made fun of the thing). It’s called Christmas cake in England and is a tradition which dates back to the middle ages, when preserving fruit through candying, drying, and soaking in alcohol was necessary to get through the long dark winter months. Fruitcake reached its zenith of popularity in the Victorian era, and is still a ubiquitous Christmas treat in England today. As the butt of all jokes today, recipes abound for all sorts of nontraditional cakes that even “fruitcake haters will love”, but they fail to connect to the truth. A cake with fruit is not necessarily a Fruitcake. If it’s light and fluffy, it’s not a Fruitcake. If there’s no alcohol involved, it may be delicious, but it’s not a Fruitcake. Properly made Fruitcake has a haunting complexity and a richness of flavor that’s perfect for the holiday season. And if you don’t finish it, you can keep “feeding” it with brandy and snitching slices until next Christmas.
I’ve made many fruitcakes over the years (my grandmother shares my love of them, and it’s always an excellent gift to give to a fellow fruitcake lover), and the following, which is adapted from Delia Smith (as far as I can gather, Britain’s answer to Martha Stewart), is the best. It’s relatively simple (I’ve tried making fruitcake with dried figs and crystallized ginger and it’s really not an improvement) and absolutely classic. Make the fruitcake now, wrap in cheesecloth, keep pouring brandy over it (if you’re not a fan of brandy, you can use rum or whisky), and by Christmas Eve (or, you know, next Halloween) you’ll have a lovely traditional treat.
- 1 lb dried currants
- 8 oz. raisins
- 8 oz. golden raisins
- 8 oz. diced candied orange peel
- 3 T brandy (you can use rum, bourbon, or Irish whiskey in place of brandy) plus more for “feeding”
- 8 oz. butter
- 8 oz. brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 8 oz. flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp. allspice
- 2 oz. pecans, toasted and chopped
- 1 tsp. molasses
- grated zest 1 lemon
- grated zest 1 orange
- The night before you want to bake the cake, combine the raisins, currants and orange peel and pour the 3 T brandy over it. Toss with your hands, cover with a towel, and leave overnight. (If you skip this step, it’s not the end of the world. Just toss them before you add them to the cake).
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
- Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Add the flour, the spices and the salt and beat until just combined. Finally, fold in the fruit, the molasses the pecans and the zest with a wooden spoon.
- Line an 8 inch round springform pan with parchment paper (I cut out a circle for the bottom by tracing, then cut a strip to wrap around the edges) and pour in the batter. Place another circle of parchment paper with a hole cut in the middle (Delia says about the size of a 50p coin, which is roughly the size of a 50 cent coin, but I haven’t seen a 50 cent coin since I was a kid, so use some discretion. Bigger than a quarter) directly on top of the batter, then wrap the whole pan in a collar of brown paper (I cut about a 4 inch strip of paper from a grocery bag (I usually use my own bags, but sometimes you need the paper!) tied with kitchen twine.
- Bake in the low oven for 4 -4.5 hours, or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan, then poke with skewers and pour some brandy over the top. Soak cheesecloth in more brandy, and wrap the cake thoroughly. Store in a tin for a week or two, “feeding” every few days with more brandy. The character of the cake will change with aging, making it more and more confection like the longer it ages.
Click here for directions on icing your Christmas cake!
Thanks so much for posting this. I think this is the recipe I’ll use for my Dad’s fruitcake this year.
I’ve never even tasted a fruitcake – but the tradition and the lore call to me. It seems that if it really were that bad – it would have fallen to the wayside a few centuries ago! Thanks for the tips – I’m going to have to try it this year!
This looks wonderful. I love fruitcake! Thanks so much for posting the recipe.
I love fruitcake and this looks very delicious indeed! Just to clarify, is the top piece of parchment removed as soon as you take the cake out ot the oven or do you let it cool and then remove it prior to adding the brandy? Thank you for all the wonderful recipes & posts!
I agree with you–no booze, no fruitcake! You are my kind of chick!
Ok, I have to admit it… I have never had fruitcake. It’s a funny how your parents’ food quirks get inside you. My Mom HATES fruitcake (although, I’m sure she’s never had yours – so you never know). And because she hates it, I guess I have always assumed I did. I had this same kind of funny discovery regarding beets a year or two ago. Turns out I like beets – so maybe I like fruitcake too! I’m going to have to make it to find out!
I never understood why fruitcake has a bad rap. I’ve always liked it!
As everyone has suspected, holiday fruitcakes really ARE dense enough to stop a speeding bullet. (With video.) Can a Fruitcake Stop a Bullet?
Oh, you have made a Christmas Cake. What about white icing and silver dragees???
I LOVE Delia Smith. Her recipe for Meatball Goulash was my favorite new recipe of 2006. I have her How to Cook and peruse it constantly.
I just got a lovely concoction of dried fruits from King Arthur’s, which I was going to use in my stuffing in place of just golden raisins. Now I may have to rethink that.
Just beautiful. Thanks.
Beautiful looking texture, that kind of culinery masterpiece would last about 2 seconds in this house. Look forward to your future mouth watering posts!
I just made my Nana’s christmas cake today (in fact, it’s still in the oven). Tragically, we’ve lost her icing recipe. Any chance you can locate a recipe that involves boiling milk, butter, and sugar, then beating until thick? It requires a candy thermometer, so I’m uneasy about guessing on proportions or temperatures. It’s the best thing in the world on christmas cake.
Not sure you know, but fruitcake is traditionally used as wedding cakes in Trinidad (probably not as much anymore since so much is Americanized now). Reading this recipe reminds me of so many things…rum kissed slivers at Christmas time when I was wee, to a small round my Mum loving baked and traipsed all the way to Napa for my wedding.
Recently, my wife made a “No bake” fruitcake. It was terrible! I’m used to the traditional dark and savory cake with lots of brandy and aged to perfection. I know it’s terribly expensive, but I always use Grand Marnier liqueur or cognac to the cake, and feed it every week to age it.
Just ruined it, not realising that you meant 275 degrees Fahrenheit rather than Celsius… I feel like crying, those ingredients costed me a fortune (I was making it in a bigger springform too)…
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