This classic Christmas fruit cake is made with fresh and dried fruit to celebrate this festive period, it’s a delicious fruit cake to enjoy for the holidays.
Moreover, there is nothing more satisfying than making your own cakes, bread rolls, and other pastries for Christmas to treat your family and friends to a delight.
This cake is baked with so much sweetness from dried fruits and doesn’t require any extra sugar for this recipe; since dried fruit product usually adds more sweetness and flavors.
Homemade Christmas cake is so easy to make using candied fruit for fruitcake; you can as well bake some fresh fruit cake. Grandma’s fruit cake recipe is super moist cake garnished with fruits and nuts, it the best fruit cake you can think of.
A fruitcake is a kind of bread baked with dried fruits, spice, and nuts; these dried fruits and nuts are soaked in Brandy or rum mostly overnight to soften. The alcohol serves as a preservative as the cake ages and prevents mold growth and yeast; helps keep the cake fresh for a longer period of time.
How to Bake Christmas Fruit Cake Recipe – Old Fashioned Fruit Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups of All-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 250 grams melted butter
- ½ cup pitted dates (Grinded or finely chopped) or sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla flavor
- 1 tablespoons baking powder
- ¼ cup Browning
- ¼ cup brandy or rum
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
- 1 cup dry mixed fruits (raisins, currants, sultanas, cherries)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- Extra cherries to decorate
Tips for Baking Fruit Cake
- First and foremost, in a deep bowl, place the mixed dried fruits on the bowl, pour in the brandy and mix properly. Thereafter, cover tightly and keep overnight or for 2-3 days.
- The pitted date can either be grounded into a powdered form or finely chopped into sizes.
- Fruitcakes are usually baked in moderate heat for at least 1 hour 30 minutes (1 ½ hour) minimum or more depending on the size.
Instructions
- Prepare your banking pan, grease using butter and dust with flour. (Although some use olive oil in pan greasing), Preheat your oven at 350F or 150C.
- Secondly, sift flour and baking powder in a clean bowl.
- Thirdly, in another bowl, cream your butter until fluffy and light, add sugar or dates powder and continue creaming till smooth. Using a cake mixer the butter and sugar can be done at the same time.
- The next step is to break the eggs into a smaller bowl and start adding gradually into your creamy butter mixture; and continue mixing until exhausted.
- Add vanilla flavor, browning, and soaked fruits and continue mixing.
- Start adding the sift flour bit by bit until all the flour is completely incorporated, and the batter is well mixed.
- Finally, pour the cake batter into the baking pan, smooth the surface with your spatula. Tap lightly on a benchtop in other to release air bubbles.
- Lastly, arrange the cherries and almonds seed on top of your cake. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 1 ½ hour. Test the doneness by inserting a skewer into the cake, once it comes out clean, the cake is well baked.
- Remove from oven and allow cooling.
Serve your delicious rich Fruitcake this Christmas and New Year!
