The Best Fruit Cake Recipe
December 7, 2011
This Fruit Cake Really Is
Moist And Delicious!
Every holiday season, we hear the same jokes about fruit cake. Jokes about regifting fruit cake, jokes about fruit cake being hard as a rock, and jokes about it tasting terrible. I think we hear these jokes because so many people never tasted a really GOOD fruit cake!
This fruit cake truly is delicious and always gets lots of compliments. It is moist and wonderful as it is or you can soak it with a little cognac or brandy for extra flavor.
The cake is moist, the fruit is juicy, and the pecans are divine. Every piece of this cake is loaded with colorful candied cherries and pineapple, so it makes a festive presentation.
Despite its intricate appearance, this fruit cake is easy to prepare and the batter mixes together very quickly. It does take three hours to bake, so allow enough time for the recipe. Also, if you plan to soak it in liquor, you will need to allow two weeks for the full cognac or brandy flavor to soak into your cake.
Arranging Candied Fruit And Pecans
In Fruit Cake Recipe
Fruit Cake
From the Kitchen of Judy Haftl Naujalis
- 6 eggs
- 2 sticks salted butter
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 ½ cups flour, plus 1 tsp
- 1 TBS vanilla extract
- ½ pound pecan halves
- 1 lb red candied cherries
- ½ lb green candied cherries
- ½ lb candied pineapple tidbits
- ½ lb golden raisins
- ½ cup cognac or brandy (optional)
Yield: makes one 10” by 3” cake ring.
Fruit Cake Fresh From The Oven
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a springform cake pan with shortening. Line it with parchment or waxed paper and grease it again.
Cover the raisins with water in a small saucepan and bring them to a boil. Remove from heat and allow them to cool. Drain the raisins and spread them over paper towels to dry thoroughly. Place the raisins in a bowl and sprinkle them with a teaspoon of flour. Toss to coat them with the flour.
Cream the butter and sugar with a stand mixer. Blend in the eggs, flour, and vanilla. Select a few pieces of each fruit and a few pecans and reserve them. Add the remaining candied fruit and pecans to the batter and stir them in by hand.
Take the reserved fruit and pecan pieces and arrange them evenly in the bottom of the springform baking pan. Pour the cake batter over the fruit and pecans.
Cover the pan with foil and bake for one hour at 350°. After one hour, reduce the heat to 300° and remove the foil. Continue baking for two more hours. Note: if you are using a loaf pan rather than a round springform pan, after reducing the heat to 300°, only bake for one additional hour.
Remove the fruit cake from the pan immediately after taking the cake out of the oven and remove the paper, too. Allow the fruit cake to cool.
Soaking Fruit Cake With Cognac Or Brandy
Place a lint-free cloth on top of a large piece of aluminum foil. Place the fruit cake on the cloth and fold the corners over it so that the cake is enveloped in the cloth. Pour half of the cognac or brandy evenly over the cloth. Carefully flip the cake over and pour the other half over the other side of the cloth to saturate the cloth. Fold the aluminum foil over the cake to seal in the liquor. Wrap the aluminum foil covered cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for two weeks.
After two weeks, this fruit cake is ready to be served as a festive holiday dessert!
I am sharing this delicious fruit cake recipe with Menu Plan Monday, Mangia Mondays, My Meatless Mondays, Tuesdays at the Table, Show Me What Ya Got, Let’s Do Brunch, Passionately Artistic, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Crazy Sweet Tuesday, Real Food Wednesdays, Whatever Goes Wednesday, What’s Cooking Wednesday, Wow Us Wednesdays, These Chicks Cooked, Full Plate Thursday, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Creative Juice, Strut Your Stuff, Delightfully Inspiring Thursday, Catch A Glimpse Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Tastetastic Thursday, Foodie Friday, Creation Corner, Frugal Friday, Feature Yourself Friday, Living Well Blog Hop, Anything Goes, Freestyle Friday, At Home With Rebecka Christmas Cookie Exchange, The Great Christmas Cookie Recipe Hop, Farmer’s Daughter Christmas Cookie Swap, Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies, Simply Delish Saturday, Not Baaad Sundays, and Savory Sunday.
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Hi Christy,
I am happy that you recieved my note regarding your fruit cake recipe and baking time. I am very happy that I checked on it when I did. I did use a springform pan. Thank you Christy for writing.
Hi, Jo-Anne. I am so glad you shared your experience with me. Did you use a loaf pan rather than a round spring-form or bundt pan? Your message made me realize that I only included baking instructions for a round cake. What a relief that you checked it when you did. I amended the recipe today to include this clarification. Thank you so much for visiting toolsforkitchens. Happy Holidays!
This is a lovely recipe and the cake was delicious. Although as stated in the recipe, I baked the cake at 350* for one hour. I then lowered the heat to 300*.The recipe states that the cake should cook for an additional 2 hours at this temperature. I checked the cake after 1 additional hour and it was completely done. I inserted a temperature thermometer, it came out dry and the cake temped at 200* or so. Just letting you know. Thank you.
Jo-Anne
Hi, Rebecka! That’s great news about your mother and I am so glad she enjoyed our fruit cake. I’m happy to hear that you found such a great solution to over-baking!
Happy Holidays!
This is truly a delicious fruit cake! My mother made it last week and since then she has eaten every bite…she just couldn’t help herself! I made the recipe yesterday right before I left for Christmas shopping. I wasn’t able to be home for the last part of cooking so left the cake in the oven on timer for 30 minutes. It was beautiful when I got home but a bit dry…duh! Never fear…I used about half a bottle of Cointreau to soak the thing and wow, it is delicious! I can’t wait to see how it tastes in two weeks but you never know, I may not be able to wait!! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree♥
At Home with Rebecka recently posted..Mental Chew-Guest Post
A beautiful fruitcake. My dad would love it. Thanks for sharing on Crazy Sweet Tuesday!
Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust recently posted..Whatever Friday {Monkey Bread}
It looks really nice, I have never liked fruit cake, but I have only really had the hard store bought stuff.
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more recently posted..Baking in Bulk, Just in time for the Holidays
This looks like a lovely fruit cake. Thank you for sharing the recipe with Let’s Do Brunch.
April @ The 21st Century Housewife recently posted..The Hearth and Soul Hop with The 21st Century Housewife
Looks delish. Thanks for sharing with Simply Delish.
KB and Whitesnake recently posted..Weekend Walkabout ~ Cockle Bay
Hi, Rebecka. That is such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it and thank you for visiting toolsforkitchens!
Oh how I adore fruit cake; the rich flavors and the years of history and tradition surrounding this tasty treat! Thank you for linking your lovely recipe to At Home with Rebecka Christmas Cookie Exchange-Linky Party!
The best and most memorable fruit cake experience I’ve had was a few years ago while working for a dear friend and owner of Andreas Gourmet Market in Sanibel Florida. Andrea is Sardinia and a lover of all things delicious and decadent! One early morning, two days before Christmas Andrea stopped by to share some holiday cheer with the employees…he popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon and instructed me to thinly slice a 55 year old, handcrafted fruitcake, made by monks in Italy. At $100 dollars for 5 ounces, you can imagine I was hungry with anticipation. We sipped our champagne together and ate the spicy, sweat fruit cake. I could never have imagined how delicious a 55 year old piece of cake would taste not to mention, the Dom!! It was one of the most memorable moments in my life and a mouthful of Christmas spirit!
Rebecka Evans recently posted..Christmas Cookie Exchange-Linky Party
Your fruitcake looks so pretty. I just love fruitcake and will have to try your recipe. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you are having a great week end and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Miz Helen recently posted..Full Plate Thursday 12-8-11
I happen to love fruit cake and yours looks delicious! Pat
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Hi, Donna. Yes, try it and you will be a believer! Thanks for visiting.
found you on Miz Helen’s:) OK, ok…so I think I may become a ‘believer’ this year about fruit cake and I just might try out your recipe because it sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Rosemary. I just went on your website and your vases are ingenious! I couldn’t understand how you’d carve something so intricate out of ice, but now I see! Thanks for visiting toolsforkitchens.
Hi, Kim! Sounds great. Enjoy it!
I love fruit cake and your recipe is easy. Will make this for friends.
What’s Cooking Wednesday
Yes, there are a lot of jokes about fruitcake, but it just has to done right. Yours looks very moist and yummy.