Christmas Fruit Cake
Classic Fruit cake is loaded with dried fruits(lots of them), nuts, and warm spices. This holiday cake has a beautifully dense moist crumb. Perfect for gifting or as a centerpiece on the holiday table.
How much dried fruit and nuts is too much in a slice of cake? I mean, just have a look at the slice above. This traditional fruit cake is studded with dried fruits, nuts, and warm spices. It’s boozy but in a nice way. The brandy/rum adds so much flavor and compliments all the warm spices in there. The cake is dense, super moist, and tender.
I have used a bundt pan to place it as a centerpiece on the holiday table but divide the batter into 2 loaf pan and they will be perfect for gifting. Trust me this fruit cake is hands down the best and will beat other cakes out there in the market.
I would recommend making this cake a couple of weeks ahead of time and letting the alcohol mature and deepen the flavors.
Ingredients for Fruit Cake
- All-purpose flour
- Butter – Unsalted butter at room temperature
- Muscovado sugar– Muscovado sugar has a dark intense flavour. It is just like dark brown sugar but has more molasses percentage in it. Most fruit cake recipe calls for molasses along with sugar, instead, I have used muscovado. You can also use dark or light brown sugar and add 2-3 tablespoons liquid molasses to get a similar flavour.
- Eggs – 4 regular egg at room temperature.
- Sour cream – Sour cream adds richness to the cake and also keeps it moist.
- Spices – I have used Cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and nutmeg. For us, the amount of spice was just perfect.
- Baking Powder – Though the cake doesn’t rise considerably, baking powder makes the cake airy and soft.
- Orange juice – The cake calls for orange zest. So after zesting I juiced the same oranges and used to soak the dried fruits. But you can also use apple juice.
- Nuts – I have used only walnuts. But you can use a mix of nuts like pistachios, pecans, almonds, and cashews. Toasting nuts enhances the nutty flavor.
- Dried fruits – Plenty of options here. Use any dried fruits you have on hand. Just make sure you use a couple of tart ones like cranberries to balance the sweetness of the cake. Glazed cherries, cranberries, golden raisins, apricots, dates, figs, etc. Don’t miss adding candied ginger and citrus peels.
- Alcohol- Dark rum, cherry brandy, and orange liquor are the popular choices. You can barely smell the alcohol because during baking the strong alcohol smell kind of of evaporates. Alcohol adds a lot of flavour and helps to keep preserve the cake.
How to make Fruit cake? step-by-step breakdown
This recipe is one bowl and easy to do. Keep all the ingredients measured before starting.
Soak dry fruits
Most of the recipe calls for soaking the dry fruits longer. The dry fruits soak up the liquid and plump up well. This recipe works both ways. If you would like to soak the dried fruits for a few days, you can do that. Otherwise, just mix dry fruits and liquids, and microwave for 2 minutes. The dry fruits soak all the liquid and plump up. Let it cool and then add it to the cake batter.
Make sure the dry fruits are at room temperature before proceeding with the batter. Measure the flour by weight for better results.
Cake batter
Start creaming sugar and butter together. The color after creaming should look light and glossy. Then add egg one time at a time. Make sure the egg is incorporated well before adding the next. Also, keep scraping the bottom of the bowl using a spatula in between.
Once all the eggs have been incorporated, add sour cream, cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg, ginger and orange zest. The batter might look a little grainy and split, but that’s fine. Start adding flour in 3 phases. Keep scraping the bottom of the pan, so that no dry patches of dry flour remain. Fold in the soaked dry fruits and walnuts. The batter is of thick consistency.
How to prevent Bundt cakes from sticking?
The sight of half of the cake getting stuck to the pan while flipping it is never a pleasant sight. So, preparing a bundt pan is very important.
- Always use a nonstick bundt pan, this solves half the problem. Grease it well with butter/oil or nonstick spray. Every inch of the pan needs to be greased well. Dust with flour and shake off extra loose flour by inverting the pan and patting it. Another way to prepare the pan is, to make a mixture of 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 teaspoon of flour. Brush the paste well including the tube of the pan.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes max. You would see the edges around the rim and the tube would start releasing. Then flip and cook the cake on a wired rack. Keeping the cake any longer in the pan would result in the steam build-up, the cake might get sticky and won’t release well.
Tips for getting a perfect cake
- Measure the flour by weight. That’s the best way to avoid excess flour in the batter. Too much flour, the cake will turn dry and crumbly.
- Before adding the soaked dry fruits, make sure you break any big lumps of dry fruits that are stuck together. Also, the dry fruit mix must be at room temperature before it goes in.
- Use an ice cream scoop to add batter to the pan. After adding half of the batter, press down the batter with a spatula. Then add the rest of the batter and level the top.
- Make sure the amount of dry fruits doesn’t exceed 3.5 cups in total.
- Fold the dry fruits thoroughly for even distribution.
- This cake is dense. Cool it down for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight for clean slices. If the cake is still warm while cutting, the dry fruits will be gummy and wet.
Can we bake in different pans?
Instead of baking in a bundt pan, you can divide the batter into two 9X13 inch loaf pans or 2 tall 9-inch round pans (depth 4inch-6inch). The baking time would be reduced to 45-55 minutes.
Storing the Fruit cake
This fruit cake saves fairly well because of the alcohol. The cake gets better in flavor with time. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and then keep it in an airtight container for 3-4 weeks. Every week brush the cake with rum/brandy. To freeze, tightly wrap the fruit cake in a layer of plastic and then in aluminum foil. Then, freeze for up to 3 to 6 months.
Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups mixed dried fruit cranberries, apricots, golden raisins, cherries, dates
- ½ cup mixed candied fruit candied ginger, orange. finely diced
- ½ cup brandy/rum
- ½ cup orange juice
For Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 1+1/4 cups Muscovado Sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon
ground clove
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2.5 cups all purpose flour
- 1.5 cups chopped walnuts (or mixed nuts)
Instructions
Prepping Dry Fruits
- In a microwave-safe bowl add chopped dry fruits, chopped candied orange, and ginger. Add rum/brandy and orange juice. Microwave for 1 minute. Mix it once and microwave again for 1 minute. The fruits would look plumped and have soaked most of the liquids.
- Let the dry fruit mix rest for at least 1-2 hours. Tossing in between, so that remaining liquid under the bowl distributes evenly. You can keep the soaked fruits in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Bring the mix to room temperature before adding to the cake batter.
Making cake
- Prepare the nonstick bundt cake pan by generously spraying it with a nonstick spray. ( Refer to the post above for tips to avoid the cake from sticking to a bundt pan)
- Preheat oven to 300° F / 150 C. Adjust the oven rack such that, the top of the cake tin will be at the center of the oven (not too close to the upper part of the oven).
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar and butter until it is fluffy and light in colour.
- Start adding eggs one by one. Once the egg is completely incorporated, add the next one. Keep scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula in between, for the mix to be even.
- Once all the eggs are done, add sour cream, all the spice powders, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Mix well.
- With the mixer on low speed, add flour in three batches. Scarp the bottom of the bowl in between to remove any dry patches of flour.
- Fold in the soaked dry fruits and nuts into the batter using a spatula. The batter is going to be thick.
- Using a large ice cream scoop ( for easier transfer of thick batter), fill half of the prepared bundt pan with batter, level it with a spatula. Transfer rest of the batter to the cake pan. Level the top with a spatula.
- Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove the cakes and place on a wire rack.
- Generously brush the tops and sides of each cake with rum or brandy. Cool for atleast 5-6 hours before slicing.
- To store, wrap the cakes tightly in plastic wrap for 6 to 8 weeks. Keep brushing the cake with rum/brandy every week. Or, wrap in cheesecloth soaked with rum or brandy and keep in an airtight container for several weeks to age.
Notes
- You can also use dark or light brown sugar and add 2-3 tablespoons liquid molasses to get a similar flavour.
- Make sure the amount of dry fruits doesn’t exceed 3.5 cups in total.
- This cake is dense. Cool it down for at least 6 hours or preferably overnight for clean slices. If the cake is still warm while cutting, the dry fruits will be gummy and wet.
Nutrition
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