Classic fruit cake made with soaked unsweetened dried fruit. A festive, flavorful, and moist fruit cake to enjoy all holiday season. This family recipe will make you a fruit cake convert! This post is sponsored by All-Clad.
As hard as it is to believe, I first shared this fruit cake recipe back in 2013. It has been a holiday staple in our household for as long as I can remember. Christmas isn’t Christmas without several slices of my mom’s famous fruit cake!
Nearly six years have passed and since then, it has become one of the most popular holiday recipes on A Beautiful Plate.
If you’re a fruit cake cynic, hear me out! This is the best fruit cake in the world – and the only fruit cake that I’ve ever loved and enjoyed.
While this recipe has received rave reviews and become a staple for many readers, I’ve teamed up with All-Clad to showcase their new Pro-Release Bakeware Set and Silicone Tools, and give this fruit cake recipe a new and improved update for the holiday season.
This fruit cake recipe features their All-Clad Pro-Release Loaf Pan. All of the All-Clad Pro-Release bakeware pieces feature oversized, easy-to-grab handles, and a nonstick (PFOA-free) finish that releases baked goods effortlessly.
This fruit cake batter is sticky and packed with dried fruit pieces, which means that it can be prone to sticking, and thanks to the ceramic, easy release coating, I didn’t have to grease or line the loaf pan with parchment paper. The fruit cakes just slid out without issue. The holidays are hectic enough without worrying about your baked goods sticking!
If you’re looking for durable and high-quality bakeware for yourself (or to gift to others!), I highly recommend checking out the full All-Clad Pro-Release Bakeware Set! You can get more information here.
All-Clad also came out with a wonderful collection of silicone tools that pair with the bakeware set. Their durable handles and platinum silicone heads, which come in a variety of shapes, are great for any baking project (or savory preparation) and have quickly become my favorite baking tools.
The bones of the original fruit cake recipe have remained the same, but it has been re-tested thoroughly.
Several ingredients have been revamped and simplified to make it easier to prepare in your own kitchen.
I’ve also added custom metric measurements to make it accessible to everyone. As you know, I’m a huge advocate for baking scales, particularly for baking. It reduces clean-up and common user errors, such as over measuring flour.
How to Make The Best Fruit Cake:
This fruit cake recipe, which yields two standard loaf cakes, is all about the dried fruit. We’ll be using only unsweetened dried and fresh fruit for this recipe.
This fruit cake contains a ton of dried fruit. Don’t be alarmed! This recipe uses a wide variety of tart and sweeter dried fruit: golden raisins, dark raisins, figs, prunes, cherries, apricots, and peaches.
To cut the sweetness and add amazing flavor, we’ll soak the dried fruit mixture in dark rum the day before baking. Note: I recommend soaking the fruit for a minimum of 12 hours or as long as 24 hours.
The dried fruit will hydrate and plump up and soak up all of the dark rum during this time. Don’t skip this step!
The soaked dried fruit is folded into the fruit cake batter the following day.
For added flavor, we’ll also be adding orange and lemon zest, orange juice, fresh grated Granny Smith apple, slivered almonds, and diced crystallized ginger (one of my favorite additions!).
You can even add bittersweet chocolate, which is my dad and sister’s favorite variation!
The fruit cake batter is transferred and divided between two loaf pans and baked in a loaf tin at a low temperature for nearly an hour and a half.
If you’re using the loaf pan I’m using from All-Clad, no need to grease the pan or add any parchment paper!
Since this cake has a such a large ratio of dried fruit, we’ll allow the fruit cakes to cool completely in the loaf pans before removing them.
Why You’ll Love this Fruit Cake Recipe:
The words ‘world’s best’ and fruit cake are generally not seen as compatible with one another. After all, fruit cake is one of the most ridiculed baked goods in existence!
You know those ones that are sold in the stores or sent as gifts at this time of the year? The ones that contain the neon candied fruit pieces? I despise those fruit cakes too!
Most fruit cakes are dry, overly sweet, and bland in flavor.
This fruit cake is not your average fruit cake recipe. It is the BEST! Made with wholesome, real ingredients, this fruit cake is moist and perfectly balanced in flavor.
Soaking the Dry Fruits | Super Moist Fruit Cake Recipe Part 1 | Holiday Favourites
FAQ
Is dried fruit the same as candied fruit?
Can you substitute dried fruit for fresh?
Do you need to soak dried fruit before baking?
Can you substitute dried fruit for candied fruit in a fruitcake?
Despite these differences, dried fruit can still be substituted one to one for the candied fruit in a fruitcake. However, because dried fruit is much drier than candied fruit, you’ll want to soak it in rum or brandy, or Early Grey tea for a booze-free option, for a minimum of 24 hours.
Is it good to wash the dry fruits or nuts and dried fruits?
You don’t need to wash dried fruit. The dehydration process they went through to get them dry was intended to remove the water present in these foods, so you don’t need to wash them. In addition, dehydration increases food shelf life because this process reduces water activity and conditions for microorganisms to proliferate and deteriorate food.
Do you use dried fruit in fruitcake?
For my updated fruitcake I use mostly dried fruit, along with some candied fruit to give it that recognizable flavor. It’s a lovely combo of a classic pound cake with those wonderful seasonal flavors that you’ll instantly recognize after one bite.
Does candied fruit taste Better Than Fruitcake?
For most people, that’s probably a good thing, but if you’re aiming for a more traditional taste that people would still want to eat, consider opting for homemade candied fruit. It will still yield the sweet candied taste associated with fruitcake, but it won’t taste as artificial or overwhelmingly sugary.