If you grew up hating fruitcake like I did, maybe it’s time to recalibrate. We’ve heard the horror stories of fruitcake being used for doorstops, or regifted from year to year through the generations. This isn’t your grandmother’s fruitcake. And while this recipe is a natural shoo-in for Christmas gift-giving, it can be made any time you feel a hankering for a bite of something decadent.
Years ago I used to troll the Gardenweb forums and collected people’s favorite fruitcake recipes. Almost every person had a “best recipe”. One thing I learned quickly from the fruitcake connoisseurs: do not ever use pre-packaged chopped fruit, like this. Ick.
You don’t have to put many fruits or the priciest ones: raisins, prunes, dried apples, whatever you have is fine, but coloring-less, naturally-dried fruits are best. I also try to avoid sulfur dioxide if I can. Dried figs are delicious!! I make several kinds all through the holiday baking season, varying the flours, nuts, and fruits according to giftees’ preferences or allergy needs, if any. The alcohol can be replaced with apple or white grape juice if you’re trying to be careful about sulfites or just want a non-alcoholic cake. It’s fun to experiment.
This recipe should make three mini fruitcake loaves, more or less, depending on the size of your pans. I like using these Italian paper pans, though I’ve had trouble coming up with the perfect solution to baking + anointing that keeps the paper dry and greaseless. What I’ve done in years past is bake the cakes in the pans, take them out and keep them in plastic bags in the fridge for several weeks until it’s time to give them away, anointing every few days with liquor. Then the fruitcake is returned to the pan it was baked in, and wrapped with some parchment and string. Maybe this year I’ll bake a double or triple batch of this recipe, to make one large fruitcake in my largest baking pan, and cut it into loaves that will fit in those pretty little pans. We’ll see. For now, here’s my basic recipe:
A day or two before baking, macerate the fruits in a bowl and cover (no need to refrigerate):
1 1/2 cups dried fruits, one kind or a mix, chopped (as fine or as coarse as you like)
1/4 cup rum or brandy (amaretto will work too)
2 cups all-purpose flour or flour substitute, homemade or storebought, if you’re gluten-free
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice
3/4 cup yogurt (I like full-fat but you can use whatever yogurt you like; even fruit-flavored yogurt will work here)
1 cup your choice of nuts, chopped
Additional brandy, rum, amaretto or whiskey for anointing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set rack in middle of oven.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of wax paper.
Beat butter and sugar in bowl of mixer (elbow grease and whisk will work too!) until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then the extract(s). Mix just until smooth. Add in flour and yogurt alternately, in batches, mixing until well-incorporated. Stir in macerated fruit (and any unabsorbed liquor) and the nuts.
Divide into pans and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out mostly clean.
Remove from oven and stick with a skewer or fork all over to create little holes for the alcohol to seep through.
Run a spatula carefully along sides to pry off the cake if needed. Let cool to room temperature on racks. Remove from pans and transfer to plastic or glass containers. Spoon additional liquor on top, a spoonful or so every few days until cake is moist. Keep refrigerated until time to give away.
Variation:
To make chocolate fruitcake:
Reduce flour to 1 1/2 cups
Omit cloves, ginger, and allspice, and add
1/2 cup cocoa powder (any kind will do) and
3/4 cup chocolate chips to the batter. You can also try cocoa nibs for a little variety.
Related reading: Fruitcake 101: A Concise Cultural History of this Loved and Loathed Loaf
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