Let’s be honest, fruitcake has a bad rap. I will admit, I, like many others never had any interest in trying fruitcake before. But my husband loves fruitcake so I decided to make him some for the holidays. But if I was going to make fruitcake I wanted to make a Holiday Fruitcake Everyone Will Love!
I baked this recipe both in a jar to mail overseas to Ashton and in the more traditional loaf pan to serve up at home.
I used a large selection of chopped fruits and walnuts and then made a simple batter and mixed them together. The end result was a surprisingly delicious, moist fruitcake packed with flavor!
View my tips and recipe for baking a cake in a jar: here!
One day late but hope you give this fruitcake a try and celebrate National Fruitcake Day!
Holiday Fruitcake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
- 1/2 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup butter cubed and softened
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Put all chopped fruit and nuts in a large bowl.
- Add orange juice and mix well.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, beat together on medium speed, butter and brown sugar until creamy.
- Next, add eggs and mix well.
- Then add flour and vanilla.
- Finally, mix in spices.
- Now add fruit mixture to batter.
- Pour into a greased baking dish, loaf pan, or mason jar and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake for approx. 60 minutes or until cooked through but still soft and moist.
- Remove from oven, cool, then remove from baking dish and cut into slices.
I saw this mix on the shelf at Wal-Mart. This is the gooey, hard stuff that scares me!
Skip buying this and use this recipe instead!
Skip buying this and use this recipe instead!
I choose a variety of dried fruits and nuts for this recipe.
This is something that you can vary according to your tastes.
Mix all the chopped fruits and walnuts together in a bowl.
Add orange juice and mix well.
Beat together cubed softened butter and brown sugar until creamy.
Next, add eggs and beat over medium.
Add flour and vanilla and beat until combined.
Finally, add seasonings: I used both allspice and cardamom.
Now just mix the fruit mix into the batter.
Now you have a pretty delicious fruitcake batter!
Make sure to preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
Spray your baking pans with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet.
Fill 3/4 way with fruitcake batter.
Place in the oven and bake for approx 60 minutes.
Let cool and then cut into slices and serve.
Isn’t it pretty? Sweet, crunchy, and moist fruitcake that everyone will love!
Pretty Ava hanging out in the kitchen with her Mama!
Ashton loved his fruitcake in a jar! Here he is eating it overseas on Skype!
I also made my 7 Minute Peanut Brittle for Ashton.
My dad loved fruit cake but it had to be soaked in brandy!! Yours looks great!!
My grandmother makes the best fruitcake cookies…maybe I'll combine the 2 recipes!
Don't be afraid of the fruitcake mix! Just soak it in brandy, rum, or OJ (even red wine would work) for a couple of weeks (or days) and it'll be fine. If using OJ, pour the juice over the fruit in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and let cool completely before adding it to the mix. Work with what you've got!
This recipe looks great and I will try it, but can I just say, Ava’s sweet baby face just stole my heart! 💞