Fruitcake

This is THE perfect fruitcake recipie. The only changes i made were to double the amount of brandy and used it to soak the fruits for 24 hours before making the cake. Good cake texture and not too much fruit. The cake mixture, using four eggs, filled an eight inch round tin and took THREE AND A HALF HOURS to bake at the stated temperature. Thanks for sharing.

I thought this was the best fruitcake I've eaten. I was specifically looking for a recipe that called for real dried fruit, no candied stuff. My daughter-in-law and I made 3 of them a month ago. We waited a month to eat any. It is so moist and very spicey. I brushed on a little brandy every other day for about the first 10 days after baking, then just left it wrapped. Even family members who questioned why we would make a fruitcake liked this one. Wonderful!

It is delicious. I gave them away as Christmas presents and received great compliments. I'll be baking it again for Chinese New Year. This time, I'll start earlier so that it will have at least 1 month of resting time and maybe more brandy.

This is a delicious cake but I found I had to cook it much longer than an hour. Did anyone else have a problem with timing?

Great fruitcake. I soaked my dried fruit mix in rum and I used rum instead of brandy. I also cooked the cake for 3 hours. I made it twice. The second time I added one cup applesauce because I had read it makes the cake moister. Big mistake the cakes did not turn out well at all. Thank you for sharing.

Excellent! I soaked my fruits and nuts in brandy for a week in advance and aged the cakes longer (more brandy applied less frequently). Like everyone else, mine took about 3 hours to bake, and longer wouldn't have hurt. I think a lot depends on whether your image of fruitcake is dry or wet.

I love this recipe. I did change a few things, I added choc. chips and dried cherries instead of raisins. And I used rum. I also put the cake in small loaf pans instead of a bundt pan. I think the baking time is off as it took more than 2 hours instead of the 1 recommended. I got rave reviews from fruitcake lovers and from non-lovers too.

This is an awesomely good recipe. I have never been fond of the candied fruit cake my mother makes. I used the brandy to soak into the dried fruit (simply because I can't stand to not change a recipe) and then doubled it and used loaf pans. I made a mistake - I used three but really four need to be used. My children love this and my mother has asked for the recipe.

This is a great recipe! It's like no other fruitcake that I've ever tasted. Everyone should try this! It's wonderful!

I went to make this cake 3 1/2 weeks before Christmas and discovered I only had one egg. I used egg substitute and a little nut oil instead. As such, I don't think I can rate this cake fairly considering a fruitcake has so many ingredients it is vitally important to follow the recipe exactly. That being said, I did make this cake and because I didn't have enough eggs it was slightly crumbly. I should have left the cake to cool in the pan as once it was cool it was alot easier to remove. ***TIP: To line the bottom of a round cake pan with non-stick paper, turn your pan upside down and measure a square of paper so that it hangs over the edges by an inch. Then fold that square in half exactly and then in half again. Now fold it into half again so that it is in a triangle shape. Put the point of the triangle in the center of your upside down pan and then with kitchen scissors cut the excess paper that hangs over the edge in a curve. When you unfold the paper it will be in a circle that fits exactly into the pan.*** I did have excess batter and used another pan so I could taste it. It is very rich and heavy. Just like a fruitcake should be. I have never had nuts in a fruitcake and don't know if I really like them in there. It took THREE AND A HALF HOURS to bake at the stated temperature. It is now in the fridge and covered with alfoil in a cake container sprinkled with a mix of frangelico (hazelnut liquor) and brandy and bourbon every 2 - 3 day. I will update after Xmas.

I went to make this cake 3 1/2 weeks before Christmas and discovered I only had one egg. I used egg substitute and a little nut oil instead. As such, I don't think I can rate this cake fairly considering a fruitcake has so many ingredients it is vitally important to follow the recipe exactly. That being said, I did make this cake and because I didn't have enough eggs it was slightly crumbly. I should have left the cake to cool in the pan as once it was cool it was alot easier to remove. ***TIP: To line the bottom of a round cake pan with non-stick paper, turn your pan upside down and measure a square of paper so that it hangs over the edges by an inch. Then fold that square in half exactly and then in half again. Now fold it into half again so that it is in a triangle shape. Put the point of the triangle in the center of your upside down pan and then with kitchen scissors cut the excess paper that hangs over the edge in a curve. When you unfold the paper it will be in a circle that fits exactly into the pan.*** I did have excess batter and used another pan so I could taste it. It is very rich and heavy. Just like a fruitcake should be. I have never had nuts in a fruitcake and don't know if I really like them in there. It took THREE AND A HALF HOURS to bake at the stated temperature. It is now in the fridge and covered with alfoil in a cake container sprinkled with a mix of frangelico (hazelnut liquor) and brandy and bourbon every 2 - 3 day. I will update after Xmas.

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED? This is the first fruitcake I have ever made. i love fruitcake, but this one just didn't do it for me. i need to get my mother-in-law's recipe. It was better, but I'd only give hers a 3+. Maybe it was me that messed this up, but I made it according to recipe and the picture says it all. The flavor was ok but it just didn't turn out the way I expected. Fruitcakes are costly to make, & I just expected 'better'. Maybe I'll have better luck with a different recipe. Since I LOVE fruitcake, I might try again...& maybe I'll have better luck next time. The brandy everyday for 2 weeks? Way too much, too soggy...but I'll try again next year, maybe.

Just finished making this recipe for the second time! These are the modifications I made: cut the cloves in half, cooked at 250 for 3 hours, soaked the fruit in brandy ahead of time, and used dark brown sugar. After cooling, I wrapped the loaves in brandy soaked cheesecloth, then wrapped in aluminum foil, placed them in ziplock bags and left them alone for a month to age. Wow was this ever good! Very spicy, moist. It tastes wonderful with a good strong cup of coffee. I hope this month goes by fast, I can't wait to have a slice of this!

OMG ... this is the BEST ... I cannot imagine why anyone would not like this fruitcake ... the only thing I changed was I used only one tablespoon of cloves, because they can so easily be overwhelming, and that seemed like a problem some people were having ... other than that, I went by the recipe, including baking in a pretty bundt pan ... it baked for 3 hours (I think that must be a typo in the recipe--there is no way this thing could could in one hour) ... and I allowed it to cool completely before attempting to take it out of my pan ... it popped right out, and it is gorgeous ... it overflowed a bit, but that was okay, because I was able to eat the edges, and they were amazing ... I cannot wait until Christmas to eat and share the rest with dinner!

This was my first time making fruitcake and it turned out excellent. I'm giving the recipe 4 stars instead of 5 because it needs some modifications. I followed the advice of past reviewers--I soaked the dried fruit in brandy for a day and I baked the fruitcake for 3 hours at 225. I used dried cherries, cranberries, and apricots (in addition to the raisins). Another modification I made was to cut the spices in half. I like a lot of spices, but I feel that if I had put in the amount in the recipe it would have been overpowering. I doubled the recipe and it filled 6 medium loaf pans (I think they were 3 x 5). My husband and I sampled one of the loaves right out of the oven and it was delicious. I have the remaining loaves resting in the refrigerator and will drizzle brandy on them occasionally. I will add more information to this review after the loaves have sat for a couple of weeks. I think that there could have been more fruit and nuts added but I'll see what it tastes like after it has sat.

well its still winter here, had the urge to make fruitcake...this is a fantastic recipe! If you like dense, moist and dark!! which i do..I did a mod or two..but the basic recipe i have made before and was just wonderful...my mods..1 cup butter with 1/2 cup oil..1/4 c molasses added, added 2 tsp ginger and used pecans and used rum.....this provided a very fruity, dense, nutty,and moist cake...it did take one bundt pan and two mini's and yes it takes about 3 hrs to bake..worth every moment...will be making a rum cream sauce to go over it. remember this is a dense dense cake!!

I have to say the initial flavor of the batter was good. However, after sitting and curing the taste of cloves was so strong that we couldn't eat it. I was so upset. I think it would be good if there were actually no cloves in there at all.

A truly excellent, spicy fruitcake. I made three batches.

First, it takes much longer than one hour to cook. Second, it is far too spicy. I would not try this one again; too many adjustments would have to be made to make it palatable.

I'm an experienced cook but I'd never previously had the foresight to make a fruitcake before the season until now. First discovery was that these things are hellaciously expensive to make. Second, this is a poor choice for a fruitcake and I do believe the fault lies with the tempering. I followed the instructions thoroughly and my cake was dry. It felt moist enough and I could never get it to accept more than 2 tbsp of brandy, but was dry upon eating. Also, 2 tbsp of cloves is such serious overkill, too much cloves. Lastly, it could have been sweeter, which given the ingredients might seem odd, still, the sweet factor was minimal. Research after the fact has shown me that the cakes need to be wrapped in a brandy soaked cloth and placed in an airtight container. I might make this again but with changes. As it stands, a 3.

This recipe was so good. I've never liked fruitcake and neither have most of the other people who tried this one and loved it. I soaked the fruit in brandy for a few days and then added the additional brandy required by the recipe. I used pecans. Baked for about 1 hour and 10 minutes and only added the additional tablespoons of brandy twice (it smelled so strong I decided to leave it alone). Waited only 2.5 weeks and it was still fantastic!

I had to cook this cake just over 2.5 hours to get it done. After cooling, it crumbled when coming out of the pan. I drizzled with brandy for 2 weeks anyway, but was very disappointed with the out come. Way too much spice; cloves especially. I made this for my dad who loves good fruitcake but this was not high on his list. Will try another recipe next Christmas.

I followed the instructions to make this cake. I was looking for a recipe to suite my tastes. This one was good but not what I was looking for. It had a strong spice taste, have to admitt the brandy was good! Thanks for the recipe.

I didn't like fruit cake until I tried this recipe! I added much more dried fruit like cranberries, appricots, dates and for nuts used pecans. I cooked the cake for 1-1/2 hours and found it is better to be less than over done. Fabulous taste and better the longer it ages!

I was looking for a recipe that didn't have "candied" fruit and this recipe was fantastic! The entire family loved it and my daughter-in-law introduced it to her Swedish parents! They don't have fruitcake in Sweden but they absolutely raved about this recipe! Even though it took a lot of time to make and than follow-up with brandy, it was well worth watching people's faces, especially those who say they never like fruitcake until now. I will be making it a holiday tradition with my family!

I feel real bad giving this such a low rating but I saw all the stars and automatically started to make it..when I got to the spices and started measuring I thought"whew!!That's a lot of cloves!!" I continued and whoa it's just too much..I think if you halved all the spices it would be better. It's easy to mix up tsp and Tbsp,maybe that happened?? Mainly too much cloves and allspice!! All due respect to your dear grandmother..I raised the heat to 325 and kept an eye on it,used 1 med and 2 smaller loaf pans..took over an hour and a half..a good white frosting helped cut the spice,it tasted like clove cake and was a little crumbly coming out of the pan(s)other than that,edible, but sorry its too spicy..

I am new to baking fruit cakes, and this cake was not done after 1 hour. I recommend baking for 3.5 hours, but maybe that's my oven. The instructions also do not say to invert the cake on a cooling rack after about 5 minutes cooling in the pan, especially if you do not line the pan with parchment paper. If the cake cools completely in the pan (and you've only greased and floured) there is a chance that it will break apart when the pan is inverted. That said, I have yet to taste the cake after it mellows for a couple weeks. I'm hoping it will taste ok!

this one did not turn-up as i was hoping too.... the nutmeg was wayy too much for this recipes it gives an after taste...

This was my first time ever baking a fruit cake, and I am so glad I used this recipe! It turned out great! At first, I was worried about leaving the cake for two weeks, but as it turns out, fruitcake really does taste better as it ages. I decided to use this recipe to bake a cake in a 9-inch round pan, so I cut the amount of ingredients accordingly. I also added more candied fruit and put in less raisins (personal preference). The cake turned out moist, rich, and flavorful. It was much better than ANYTHING you could buy in any bakery. Just make sure you use high quality brandy! You can really taste the difference. =D

this is BY FAR the BEST FRUITCAKE I have EVER put to my face ! I had to make 2 for thanksgiving and I KNOW I'll have to make at least 2 more for Christmas. A NEW tradition for me! VERY moist and VERY delicious ! NO MORE STORE BOUGHT for ME ! THANK YOU for sharing !

This was my first fruit cake I made and I am glad I chose this one. Everyone who tried the cake LOVED IT - even those who do not like fruit and brandy :) It took about 3 hours to bake. I changed the recipe a little bit - for the fruits I used raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries and apricots (I LOVE apricots)..and it turned out really good. This was a very rich and flavorful cake! I will make it again and will be come the 'aunt who brings fruit cake to Christmas' :)

I made this cake yesterday for 16 servings. I too had a problem with the timing and such a slow oven. I increased the temp towards the last 40 minutes to 250. It took almost 2 1/2 hours to bake. Does anyone else think a higher temp would have been OK with less baking time, without sacrificing texture and taste? I want to make another one that's lighter in color. I took the cake out of the pan after 10 minutes of cooling and it came out perfectly. Loosen the edges with a knife before removing. Also, I wrapped mine in cheesecloth before putting it in foil.

This had way too much butter! It spilled all over my oven and was a mess to clean up. you could probably use half the amount of butter and still have a moist cake. We wrapped the cakes in cheese cloth that had been dipped in rum, then stored them in zip-lock bags in a cool dark place for a month before eating them.

I really like the initial flavor of the cake itself, but the brandy ruined it for me. We didn't use cheap brandy. The problem was that I couldn't get the alcohol out of the cake once we added all that brandy to it over a two week period like the recipe says. I even tried baking the cake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes to bake out the alcohol. That just made the edges of the cake hard and chewy, which actually wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what the cake was supposed to be like. This cake is too expensive to mess up. Next time (if there is a next time), we'll omit the two weeks of seasoning the cake with brandy and just eat it right away. The 3 stars are for the cake itself, the two remaining stars were left off b/c of the terrible alcohol taste from adding the brandy.

This cake is awesome!!!!! It will be part of our Christmas from now on. I have always hated fruitcake, but not anymore. Thank you so much for sharing a part of your family.

I am giving this a 2 star because I think the recipe needs modifications. The cloves were way too overpowering. I also think it calls for way too much brandy.

I made this last year for the first time and everyone loved it! I am making two fruitcakes this weekend for this holiday season. My cake also baked my cake for nearly 3 hours. I made some slight adjustments - I'm not a huge fan of raisins so for the 1 1/2 cups of raisins, I used a mixture of raisins, dried cherries, dried blueberries and dried cranberries. For the nuts, I only used pecans. Looking forward to making it and gifting it this holiday season season!

So far, so good! I'm not a fan of fruitcake, but last year started the tradition of making it for my father-in-law for Christmas. I used one 9x5" loaf pan, and two 5x3" pans, and had the perfect amount of batter. It baked very nicely in about an hour and a half and is in the aging stage right now. Seems like the perfect texture and smell for all those fruitcake lovers to enjoy.

I LOVE fruitcake and this is the first time I've made any. I made this into 8 small cakes and one loaf size. I began about a week before Thanksgiving. I soaked my fruit in brandy for a couple of days, then made the cakes according to the directions. I just tried one of the small cakes tonight and I am happy with the results. My cakes were sticking to the foil so I rewrapped them in cheesecloth then foil. This seems to be working better for me.

Awesome love it!! A must try!

Very good cake. It takes long time to bake, but it's wort it. I used apple sauce instead of butter and added little orange juice instead of the 4 egg, i had only 3. It came very good and everybody loved it. I'm baking it second time now:)

Good tasting - more like a Christmas steamed pudding. Had to bake it at 250 for three hours. I agree with the reviews that said 225 was too low and 1 hour was too short of baking time. Next time I'll use less butter. More like a Christmas steamed pudding. Sure don't have to keep soaking it with booze until Christmas like we've done in the past. Will probably go back to my old recipe next year.

I tried this recipe 3 times... doubling each time. Only the 1st time was ONE cake alrite. Every other cake crumbled upon coming out of the pan. I want to love this recipe, the crumbs were delicious... but I just could not get it to work.

I am not a fan of fruitcake, however my boyfriend is. I made this cake last year for my boyfriend, and by the way it was the first time I had ever made fruitcake. He loved it!!!! I will be making it again this week and sending it to him in Africa where he is stationed. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

I have made this delicious cake for several years and love it and give it as gifts. It is the best! I added more fruit and nuts than called for and used pitted dates, pecans, dried appricots, dried cranberries and dried cherries and more brandy. I tried cutting down on butter, but it definitely did not come out as well.

I made it with rum instead of brandy. However my family could not wait a week to let the alcohol soak. It was absoulutely delicious. Thank you.

This fruitcake is excellent. I made it as a gift for a family member and they can't stop raving about it to everyone. Cooked a little batter in 2 ramkins just so I would know how it tased and it was so moist. I am not usually a fruit cake fan, but this was really good. Will make for gifts again. I think next year I will use mini bunt pans and wrap with celophane for a little christmas treat.

This is better than any fruitcake I've ever had. I used dried cranberries, mango, papaya, dates, raisins, and a few others and pecans. Most people don't like fruitcake, so I call it my Holiday Cake and they love it and ask for more. Thank you for the recipe

I absolutely love this fruitcake. I've been babying it with rum for almost 2 weeks and had to have some. It is the best, darkest, richest fruitcake I've ever had; and I love fruitcake. Thanks for sharing!

I followed the recipe faithfully,and had enough left over to make 4 little fruit cake muffins..they were cooked perfectly in 1 hour,but the cake took 3 hours to cook in a bundt pan,very tasty,I will use this recipe again,but halve the quantities,also,I soaked the fruit for 24 hours in brandy before making the cake,maybe that is why it took so long to cook,it is so beautifully moist!!

I made this last year. I first made brandied fruit (for frienship cake starter). I also had to bake longer. Otherwise I followed the recipe. It was awesome. This year I am going to try it with rum.

I read the reviews before I started and seen where some thought the spices were a little too much so I used 1 tablespoon of each of the spices and I used dark brown sugar just because I love dark brown sugar. Everything else exactly like the recipe says. I used six small loaf pans and baked at 250 for 1 hour. It was absolutely outta this world. I ate one by myself and my son ate one as soon as they came outta the oven. This is amazing and did I mention that I don't like fruitcake? The other four I wrapped in cheesecloth soaked in brandy and sealed them up in quart sized ziplock storage bags and put them in the fridge. I can't wait to test the finished product!

Most delicious. Chewy yet moist. I doubled the portions as i wanted to give as christmas gifts. I used 1 cup of butter instead of 1.5 cups. Also substituted with currants and dried cranberries.

Great fruitcake recipe. I love the fact that no candied fruit is called for (though I did place candied cherries in the bundt before pouring the batter to make it look more festive), and I used a combo of dates, raisins, plums, and apricots with walnuts and pecans. Soaked the fruit in brandy for a couple of hours, and have been alternating brandy and amaretto to dribble over it every day or two. Will be added as one of the few go-to fruitcake recipes in my book (I do like fruitcake, so I need more than one)!

Is it just me or is there WAY too much butter here? 1 and a half cups? My fruitcake was oozing oil, plus it took 5 hours to bake at 110 degrees C, I wrapped the half baked fruit cake in punctured foil and baked it on top of a muffin pan and gathered 1 full muffin mould of oil.

don't like it sorry

I found this recipe in 2005 and have made it every year since! I don't like fruitcake but this one is out of this world delicious!!!! I look forward to every Christmas so I can make it. 2 hours baking in the oven and it comes out perfect. Thanks Roxy and your grandmother!

I was a little confused by the dried mixed fruit which can vary depending on where you happen to be but I used raisins, sultans, cranberries and currents. I soak the fruit in booze over night first and wow, I only tasted a small piece but this was wonderful, needed 2 + hours though but I used a Bundt tin which may have made a difference. Thanks for sharing.

Needed To Cook It Alot Longer. Should be Like 325 Degrees for at Least 1-1/2 Hours. Put a Pan On Water Underneath It. Havent Tasted it Yet But I Did Cut The Spices and Sugar Down a Bit. Hop Its Good as I Love Fruitcake>

WAY TOO MUCH SPICE!!

i never soak my fruitcakes. so idk. and expensive?? hm?? funy how i seem to be lucky enough for it not to be. this recipe was good. thank your grandma for me.

there was too much clove and ginger

I will try it again it was enjoyable

I made it following 100% , it took more than 3 hours but my cake does not come out clean .

Simple ingredients recipe. My family loves this cake. I'm giving 5 stars, Thanks!

After reading others reviews about it having to cook for 3 hours, I determined the oven temp in the directions is incorrect. I divided the batter into 2 bread pans and baked it at 325 for 1 hour and it came out perfect. I have not tried it because it says it has to rest for a few weeks. My dad loves fruitcake and he has never had a homemade fruitcake. I'm sure my dad will love this for Christmas. It does smell really good. ( I don't like fruitcake)

This cake is toxic. 2 tablespoons of Nutmeg is way to much for the cake. The toxic dose of nutmeg is two to three teaspoons. I assumed no one would ever come close to that amount unintentionally until I saw report in which a couple ate some pasta, collapsed, and were subsequently hospitalized. It was a big mystery until “On close questioning, the husband revealed that he had accidentally added one third of a 30g spice jar of nutmeg to the meal whilst cooking it.” That’s about 4 teaspoons–I don’t know how they could have eaten it! I imagine the poor wife just trying to be polite.

A family friend said it was the best fruitcake she ever had!

This was my first attempt at making a fruit cake ever. Totally ruined and wasted all those ingredients! Oven temp said 225 and cook for 1 hour. It was far from being done. Spices were too potent - thinking whomever typed this meant TEASPOONS instead of Tablespoons?! Very disappointing.

it is nice to make it made it already

I make this every December and it’s an absolute hit! I call it my boozy boozy cake. I skip the nuts and raisins though and only add the cherries. Bake time is definitely 2 hours though

I did not make any changes. Your recipe says to bake it at 225degrees, for 1 hour. How do you expect the cake to bake at such a low temperature. I had to turn the temp to 325 to finish baking it. The cake is still a mess. It also has too much butter in it. It is very greasy. I won't make it again...

Recipe is very uninteresting, no big chunks of fruit or nuts. The amount of cloves pretty much guarantees it will be almost inedible because all you get is that spice. Will never make this again and consider it a total waste of some costly ingredients. Plus it took twice as long to cook as noted and I think the writer must have made some errors in entering this recipe. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

With notes.

I made this cake last night. I have to say it did not go as planned. I had read comments about it taking longer than an hour...so I was prepared for that. After about 1 3/4 hours the toothpick test came back clean. But it was not done. I put it in for another 30 minutes at 300 this morning. I haven't tasted it yet so I hope it at least tastes good.

This took nearly 2 hours. Then the firnal part of recipe did not state to either turn upside down or leave in pan or anything, Just cool on wire rack. So I thought it needed to invert, well it broke apart. BUT IT IS delish. So next time I know to leave it in pan, set at higher setting and bake for longer than 1 hour.

This is the best tasting fruitcake I've made but there was an issue with the temp and time....after the hour was done at 225 I was skeptical so just put it up to 350 and for 45 min more to test....also someone said that there were candied fruits in here and there is NOT....just dried fruits and NO Citrin....thank goodness! So whomever posted that just don't assume there are candied fruits in this recipe! All good! I make this ahead of time to account for the brandy spooning! Love it!!!

The raw batter is delicious and I am giving it five stars on that basis (but I did decrease the cloves, nutmeg and allspice to 1 tablespoon). I would like to hear from Roxy about oven temperature and bake time. Roxy is the oven temperature and bake time correct? Mine is still in the oven. It’s been an hour and the toothpick comes out clean but it jiggles when I touch it. I don’t think it is done.

This is my go to recipe. It's a easy base recipe for me to adapt to my current recipe which I have used for years. Thank you Roxy for sharing. Changes I made: 1. 2 tablespoon of allspice is what I use. We don't like too much spices and most people can't wait for 2 weeks to eat it. 2. I replace the sugar with dark molasses sugar. It gives it a flavour I like very much. 3. I bake in smaller containers because I gift them. With 4 containers on a tray, baking time is about 2 hours at 150c. 4. I soak my dried fruits with Jamaican rum minimum 1 week. Excess liquid from soaking I saved for brushing the cake later on. 5. Dried fruits on top are mixed with apricot jam and rum then scooped on top and put into the fridge.