Fruitcake Recipes; My Favorite and Others

Fruitcake recipes are very popular during the holiday season. Each country usually has a traditional recipe with a variety of other springing off of it. Here in the United States we have many different types primarily because we are the melting pot of the world. For years immigrants have brought to this country their original recipes. Now we have a blend of all of them.

From my German ancestry, the stolen was our traditional fruitcake recipe but as long as I can remember my family made the kind with dried fruits and nuts baked in a Bundt pan. This is what I bake and is now my traditional Christmas fruitcake recipe. Even among this type there are many different recipes like the dark ones and white ones.

Over the years I have made so many different recipes to find the best fruitcake recipe. This is the recipe that I have listed first below for you. It has a great flavor and is not as dry as a lot of the recipes. I prefer using only the candied cherries and pineapple instead of all the mixed fruit. I also like a lot of nuts in the recipe.

This type of fruitcake recipes has a lot of advantages. Besides being so flavorful they also stay good for a very long time; in fact the older they get the better they taste. They also make wonderful gifts for our far away loved ones because they ship better than most other foods.

There are people who tell me they just absolutely do not like fruitcakes. There are fruitcake recipes to please every palate; they just are not what you call traditional and they are treated more like a regular cake. This means they do not get better with age and if made in advance should be frozen to keep like the cranberry nut cake recipe and the banana Bundt cake recipe.

MY FAVORITE TRADITIONAL FRUITCAKE RECIPE

• 1 Cup melted butter, cool
• 1 Cup sugar
• 5 Eggs
• 2 Cups self-rising flour, sifted
• 1 Ounce vanilla extract
• 1 Ounce lemon extract
• 2 Cups broken pecans
• 2 Cups walnuts
• 2 Cups candied cherries
• 2 Cups candied pineapple

Preheat oven to 250F degrees.

Grease and lightly flour tube pan.

Beat butter, sugar and eggs until creamy. Add flour, vanilla and lemon and blend well. Fold in the fruit and nuts and spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until a pick comes out clean. Cool a little before removing from pan.

When cake is cold drizzle with a little apple cider or rum (about ¼ cup). Wrap cake tightly in plastic wrap and store in a cool place.

CRANBERRY NUT CAKE RECIPE

From my fruitcake recipes, here is one of my cranberry cake recipes.

• 1 Cup sugar
  
• ¾ Cup oil
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 2 12/4 Cups flour
  
• ¼ Teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 Cup chopped dates
  
• 1 Cup chopped nuts
  
• 1 Cup fresh cranberries
  
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
  

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Grease and flour a tube pan.

Cream together sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Mix the dry ingredients with the creamed mixture until well blended. Fold in the dates, nuts and cranberries until well blended.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan; Bake for 1 hour or until pick comes out clean. Cool and remove cake from pan. Set on a deep serving dish. Slowly spoon the topping over the cake until it is all soaked in.

Topping: Heat 1 cup orange juice and 1 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved.

The next is an easy cake recipe from my banana cake recipes. Although it is lighter in texture, I still consider it a fruitcake. It is so delicious and easy to make. Many people who do not like traditional fruitcake will love this one.

BANANA BUNDT CAKE RECIPE

• 3 Cups flour
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 2 Cups sugar
• 1 ½ Cups oil
• 3 Eggs
• 1 ½ Teaspoons vanilla
• 1 Can (8 ounce) drained pineapple
• 2 Cups diced ripe bananas

Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

Grease and flour a bunt cake pan.

Sift dry ingredients together. Cream together the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add all together and blend well. Add the pineapple and bananas and mix together on low speed just until blended. Bake about 40 minutes or until pick come out clean. When slightly cooled, remove from pan. Sift powdered sugar over top, if desired.

CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE RECIPE

This is one of the unique old fashioned fruitcake recipes which is first cooked in a pressure cooker then moved to the oven. It is very moist and delicious because of the cooking method.

• 1 ½ Pounds currants
  
• 3 Pounds raisins
  
• 1 Pound citron
  
• 1 Pound candied pineapple
  
• 1 Pound candied cherries
  
• 1 Cup softened butter
  
• 1 Pound brown sugar
  
• 6 Eggs (separated)
  
• 4 Cups flour
  
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
  
• 1 Teaspoon allspice
  
• 1 Teaspoon nutmeg
  
• ½ Teaspoon cloves
  
• ½ Teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Cup chopped walnuts
  
• 1 Cup wine
  
  

Grease and line with wax paper 3 loaf pans. (Use 4 if pans are small so as to not overfill)
Cut all fruit in small pieces; cream butter, sugar and egg yolks until fluffy.
Sift and mix all dry ingredients together; add alternately with wine to creamed mixture.
Blend fruit into mixture.
Beat egg whites until stiff; fold whites into batter.
Divide batter among the prepared pans.
Tie 3 thicknesses of wax paper over the pans to keep out moisture.
Pour 2 ½ cups of water in bottom of pressure cooker.
Put pans of fruitcake batter, one above the other on the pressure cooker rack.
Cook 45 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure and 30 minutes at 15 pounds of pressure.
Preheat oven to 250F degrees.
Remove fruitcakes from pressure and place in oven for 12 minutes to dry.

NO BAKE FRUIT CAKE RECIPE

This is an unique fruitcake recipe because it requires no baking or cooking but is equally delicious.

• 1 Cup candied pineapple
  
• 1 Cup candied lemon peel
  
• 1 Cup candied cherries
  
• 1 Cup dark raisins
  
• 1 Cup figs
  
• 1 Cup candied citron
  
• 1 Cup candied orange peel
  
• 1 Cup dates
  
• 1 Cup light raisins
  
• 1 Cup pecans
  
• 1 Cup walnuts
  
• 1 Cup softened butter
  
• 1 Cup honey
  
• 1 Teaspoon lemon juice
  
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla
  
• 1 Pound graham cracker crumbs
  
• 1 Teaspoon salt
  
• 1 Teaspoon allspice
  
• ½ Teaspoon nutmeg
  
• 2 Teaspoons cinnamon
  
  

Cut fruit and nuts in small pieces and mix well.
Cream butter and honey; add flavorings and pour over fruit.
Let mixture stand for two hours.
Roll crackers into fine crumbs; add salt and spices.
Combine crumb mixture with fruit mixture and mix well.
Pack mixture into wax paper lined loaf pans; keep in refrigerator.

More Recipes to Make Cakes

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